Thanks for sharing your TR, eethan. I fly MU (and FM) several times per month, and following are some thoughts:

1. F is pretty damn expensive these days on most flights (i.e. can be over Y7000 on KMG-SHA)

2. I couldn't fathom forking over close to $1000 (additional money) in order to avail of slightly better food and seats

3. Discounted F presents a slightly different calculus (i.e. the differential v Y is only Y1000), but I still fail to see value in the price difference unless I'm traveling with clients who insist on F

4. Lounges in places like KMG are inferior to airport restaurants; while the latter are invariably overpriced, the food generally isn't so bad

5. MU online checkin works pretty well, once you figure out how to use it (Chinese site is best)

6. Whether I'm flying F or Y, I try by best to board last (less time on the plane is a good thing, and I don't need to deal with navigating any sort of crowds)

7. Upon deplaning, I also like to wait for my fellow passengers to clear out of the way; I've already been delayed for 3+ hours, so an extra 5 minutes is no big deal

8. MU Platinum members now get unlimited upgrades on intra-China flights; I must admit that this is a pretty nice benefit, but I have no desire to aim for MU Platinum myself because doing so would entail a lot of flying on MU (4 times a month is more than enough!)

9. SHA might have been a small airport until 1980, but this certainly wasn't the case in the mid 90s when I started using it