Is it about loyalty or just the lack of nonstop competition from fortress hubs? I remember back in 2012 when I was flying IAH-BOS/PIT weekly, I was always forced onto US through CLT due to corporate travel policy. UA was always at least a 50% premium for the nonstop over US with a connection. Our project manager had a nasty habit of not telling us whether we would be in BOS or PIT until the Friday before and UA's price was always over $700, high enough that I couldn't even book it through our travel portal without a VP override. (Of course, then he'd chew me out about my flight expenses )

It actually wasn't so bad, the US club in CLT was fine and the schedule was convenient, though I had way too many 6am Monday departures on US out of IAH, and I lived in Katy...