@erbain wrote: My suggestion is that Southwest take a look at the demographic information available and consider whether an alternative to Companion Pass might be a good idea. Right now it would be far more valuable to me to have an automatic upgrade to business select and free wifi, for example, or have the ability to select a different companion for each of my trips (as then I could travel with friends). Based on my own survey of the CP holders that I know personally, the demographics may have changed somewhat from the old days based on what I see on these boards, but I'd need to see the actual numbers before deciding that it wasn't still a great fit for most CP holders. I'm not sure how much it will have shifted in percentage terms. To offer a devil's advocate argument - the CP is a benefit to customers that let's say historically flew with a spouse - the spouse enjoys flying (mind did the past several years!) and that locks you in to Southwest! The customer retention argument wouldn't be as strong if you can change the companion at will, there is some balance between making it a benefit to the CP holder and also enhancing customer retention to the airline. A program that favors spouses, domestic partners, children, parents, or BFF's makes much more sense for Southwest than one that allowed a new person every time. I'll make a counter proposal for this thread though: what if the CP allowed nomination of a primary and an alternate person at one time so that you didn't have to switch back and forth and had flexibility of either/or companions. I think a policy like this would help drive the CP holder to take as many or more flights on Southwest which seems to be one of the goals.
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