Yes, an extreme shame...It was usually my one sure bet to confirm my upgrade at time of booking, and I generally used SFO-TPE as my gateway to Asia. Gunna be tough to do it now on the ORD-NRT where upgrades tend to be tighter, and I imagine NRT-TPE will become another NRT-SIN for upgrades.

There was one particular f/a domicile Taipei, in the two times I flew in F, he was the purser both times. His name escapes me, but was one of the gems in the UA system...Maybe 50 years old, black/grey hair, glasses, caucasian American. Remembered my name a year later when I had him for the second time. The TPE-based crews were generally phenomenal.

Sad, I tell you...Sad.