Originally Posted by
star_world
Surely the only reason that people choose to take a US airline in Y on a transpacific route still apply regardless of whether they serve a few free drinks or not? (i) E+ (ii) upgrades (iii) MM status. Does $12-14 in drinks outweigh any of this.
You forget about the supermajority of passengers, who have no status and so have to buy E+, no upgrades, no hope of MM and can't afford to fly NH instead of UA cash out of pocket. For us, it's a big deal when we lose one of the only things UA ever gave Y for free post bankruptcy.