Never hurts to try the other guys every now and then, just as a reminder as to how good it is with Southwest.

Your initial logic for going with AA made sense, but in retrospect, I think I would prefer to fly into ABQ over SAF.

It really depends on where your home airport is and how much you fly with one of the legacy carriers. With enough flying, the upgrades are nice. However, you still have those pesky change fees. And, once you start to expect the upgrades because you get them *most* of the time, when you have to sit in the class you paid for, its annoying.