Who is screaming and shouting? I'm just telling AC that I'm done with them and so are a lot of other people. And they aren't bringing their program in-line with UA, they're making it worse.

Let's try a little table to compare AC/AE and UA/MP for the Canadian non-SE/non-1K international business traveler.

Business Class Upgrades: AC co-pay, UA co-pay
Economy Upgrades: AC not available - only a handful of bulkhead seats, UA free E+
Lounge Access: AC yes, UA yes
Priority Boarding: AC yes, UA yes
Price: AC higher than UA in almost all situations
Scamcharges on award travel: AC yes, UA no

So I have to decide whether the AC hard product and sometimes not connecting through the US (with Nexus...) is worth being crammed in to an AC economy seat for a higher price and paying scamcharges on award travel. Guess what - it isn't, not even close.

We have about 20 people in my office who travel internationally and are AE members with AC status. About 10 of us who were in the office yesterday had a little informal meeting and we all came to the same conclusion: we're done with AE/AC after this year. We'll be switching other award programs and not forcing all of our travel to AC - we'll fly other airlines when it makes sense, which is much of the time. If AE / AC don't want our business that is fine - other airlines and reward programs do and we'll take it there.