As an ATL-based PM at the time, before there was ever DM, I defected to AA for a year and a half.

About about the tenth connection at DFW coming back from the west coast, I just couldn't stand it anymore.

When you have the world's largest airport at your backdoor with nonstop service to so many places, you gain so much in convenience that it's just not productive to explore non-hub carriers for the most part.

In the case of the OP, it sounds like the one upcoming trip might work just as well on another carrier, but I would not use that one trip as justfication for bolting to another carrier for everything else.