Got a lot of enjoyment out of this thread (and a few laughs--had to think hard for a minute to figure out what "DYKWIA" stands for).

I too am Chicago-based, and those of us here are forced to choose between the Two Evils (UA and AA). I've been a UA loyalist for some time, though I have no moral problem venturing to the Dark Side when price and schedule/destination are right (such as on the rare occasion that I'm in Latin America, though the UA/CO merger will likely change that).

That being said, I generally find the service to be more consistent, if not friendly, on UA than on AA (though I did have a particularly agreeable AA FA slip me an extra little bottle of Jack Daniel's for free in Y once). Unfortunately, UA's fares seem higher to the places I tend to go. I also like AA's awards program better than UA's, but I only fly between 25,000-40,000 miles per year--about half of which is usually not on UA or its partners--which is not enough to really take full advantage of a frequent flier program.

It's safe to say that neither airline offers the total package, but as has been mentioned before, not a whole lot can be expected of a US-based carrier. I'll be flying AA ORD-MIA-LIM and back next month, and while I wasn't excited about having to fly American, the price was right.

Oh, and while I get both sides of the first name/surname argument, I would think that crews should opt for the title and surname unless specifically instructed by the passenger to address him/her by first name. I appreciate being addressed as Mr... in a hospitality setting, but I also am very quick to invite people to call me by my first name. It shouldn't ruin a flight, but I can see where being called "Bob..." or whatever would contribute to the overall negative impression that this crew seems to have given. Totally different story in Y (where I usually sit), where you get what you pay for.