Originally Posted by Col Ronson

I (respectfully of course) disagree. I've been a UA elite since 2007 and i've only been on AA for the last 1.5 years and i have had a far better experience flying F on AA than i ever have on UA. While UA has clearly made improvements to their catering to come up to a higher level, its too little, too late. However, i have seen that DL does have a superior catering product to AA. Their Frequent Flier Program leaves a lot to be desired however and Skyteam is not as competitive of an airline alliance as Oneworld or Star. (you can't book first class awards on many skyteam partners because DL itself does not have intl F).

What exactly is wrong with charging stickers for upgrades? I think it ruins the exclusiveness of first class when you hand out free upgrades like candy. Notice how no other premium airline in the world does that. It also leaves open some seats for EPs who may buy last minute fares inside their upgrade window and not lose it out to PLTs or GLDs. But of course a non-EP would complain about sticker upgrades. Check out the UA board, you have even 1Ks who are not getting confirmed upgrades while most EXPs here report a high success percentage. 1K is pretty much nothing at UA these days, if you want any perks its Global Services or bust. Its funny because if you're a global services on UA you can still be stuck flying coach (i've seen it) and you still dont get a free item off the ala carte menu.