Well, you're paying extra for the E+ until you get UA status, but yeah, that's the idea, I guess- if you don't like the package that VX offers (good planes and prices, not so good FF program), find someone else who offers you more of what you want. I find that coming into a forum with an account designed to whine about how an airline "sux" to be a somewhat less productive way of dealing with your problems.

I also think paying $114 for each leg of a cross-country trip (I'm assuming before taxes and fees- so we're still talking about <$300) shouldn't have you crying in your beer about how your FF benefits suck- and that's coming from someone who largely agrees that VX's FF program isn't very awesome... but I also think that the idea of brand loyalty to crappy airlines because you can occasionally get superlative experiences on other airlines as a result of your FF program is sort of wacky- it's like driving a bad car that goes into the shop regularly and has all kinds of problems because once or twice a year you can rent a Ferrari for a week for next to nothing. I think frequent flyer programs should really be afterthoughts compared to the operation of the airline itself, I guess- which is how I think VX is set up (though some improvements would be nice- points not expiring after 18 months, ways to upgrade seats using points and perhaps a higher point tier or two for more frequent fliers being the ones I could think of, like say 5x/6x/7x, which is what they do at DJ/VA).