The tradeoff for that as far as many of the 1Ks are concerned are the SWUs (system wide upgrade certificates) and the markedly better service they get from UA. From what I can gather, many of them are international business travelers whose companies buy the front cabin and leisure travelers who utilize the SWUs for long trips and who do not do much short-haul domestic. But the lower tier members do have a better shot at the upgrades on domestic flights than they do at some of the other airlines.

Those of us who travel on business and whose companies insist that we buy the cheapest ticket find that the airline that upgrades domestically strictly by status is the best choice. Most of us qualify for top tier and those who do run well in excess of 80% upgrades from such companies as Delta, even on the lowest fare ticket. On those airlines, complementary upgrades for lower tier and base members are few and far between.