Upthread, or in another thread, there was some discussion that I'd like to re-open. People make a lot of cheap corporate Y fares, TOD's, etc., but posts like this about enormous lists -- and there are many such posts -- suggest that part of the problem is good old fashioned swelling of the elite ranks.

I think there's a colorable argument that the merger has permitted people to concentrate more of their travel on UA, and that's part of why people are feeling so much pain in terms of CPU's.