I really think it's silly to transit another country instead of taking a nonstop because you're bored with what is a very good product.
I agree. if you want to try out another airline that is otherwise more inconvenient, pick a trip that that airline offers a route that CO doesn't.
As far as I'm concerned, UA and CO's C products are quite nice (the hard product is pretty darn good). Neither offer the super high end food/wine of foreign world class carriers in FIRST. And as far as I'm concerned, you're not going to get a truly gourmet dining experience on any of them in C, so its not really worth much..