Originally Posted by
boosman
Here's how much I'd rather fly AS: if, on AS transcons, I could count on being upgraded to F at least 50 percent of the time, and to F or to exit row non-middle seating at least 80 percent of the time, and never end up in non-exit row middle, I'd completely switch away from UA except when flying SEA-RDU (most of my trips are SEA-IAD/DCA and SEA-MCO). I'd give up 1K status and the SWUs that go with it. I'd drop down to 2P or even 1P. That's another 50K BIS miles to AS, minimum -- maybe 75K.
But the lack of F upgrades on transcons and the advance assignment of exit row seating to MVP/G's is part of AS's "product". Honestly, it sounds like UA's E+ outweighs all of AS's benefits for your particular situation.
BTW, I once made the same choice. I was an mid-tier Elite FF on America West primarily because of my leisure travels. Later, I started traveling for wokr and having to book about a week before my trip. On America West, I kept getting stuck in a middle seat on a near-transcon length flight. I subsequently changed my favored airline because of this.
So, it's okay if UA meets your particular needs -- AS can't/won't do it right now (I think everyone here understands...)