This is not really UA specific (except for the UA references below) and I fully expect it to get moved somewhere more generic, but I thought I'd post it to the UA forum anyway, since Mileage Plus was what brought me to FT in the first place.

I suspect that many of us FT members, as much as we like to whine, actually do enjoy flying in airplanes. As painful as it is to make an extra stop, get re-routed in the middle of a MR or have to spend the night doing laps around SIN, there's nothing like a take-off roll to illustrate the singular down-side of the Prius in the garage, and who hasn't pretended on final that they were the hero civilian who had to land the plane after the pilots ate some bad fish for dinner. Also, as experienced fliers, it's fun to be in-the-know whether it be asking the ticketing agent about a specific nuance on your "DM Card" or showing the RCC check-in person a printout of their own rules.

Case in point, I'm about to try Virgin America. I fully expect long delays, missed flights, non-working IFE, and I fully expect to complain about it here on FT. However, it's fun to try out a brand new airline!

I remember when the 747 UD was a first class lounge. A bar, place to play cards, food, etc. Certainly F has gone downhill since then, but on the other hand, Pan Am didn't have 12 daily non-stops from SAN to SJC either, and the "IFE" were those headphones with the tubes you'd plug into holes in the seat. Now, would I trade XM Radio for some 8-track tape playing through a speaker in my headrest? Maybe, maybe not. Certainly on some days it would be fun to lounge around upstairs, but on some days Channel 9 and a Diet Coke is all I need.