What's even worse is for the AS elites who now are starting to book on VX and have to put up with subpar service. This is not flame-bait but rather an honest opinion after my first three flights (all on the same day!) ever on VX. Let's start with I have no real love lost for AS. I'm a 75k, but have been supremely underwhelmed by their service/hard product/soft product v American (where I'm EXPLT). But, I travel to Seattle frequently and DL is probably the worst airline I've ever flown (no, I don't fly ULCCs so this is subjective) so AS really is the only other viable option. Despite being a relatively critical 75k on AS, I have to say that in almost every respect the AS experience is significantly better than VX--at least for AS elites. I have to add that qualifier because I noticed a distinct difference in how I--and other AS elites--were treated on board viz VX elites. Things like, having my bag moved to accommodate a late boarding "Silver" (whatever that status means), being absolutely last to select an entrée on every flight, having to bus my own tray post-meal, etc. I'm not sure whether it's just the FAs being hyper passive-aggressive about the merger or what, but... It was truly awful service. Oh, and I booked into First (no, not an upgrade... full fare first) on all three flights. Needless to say, I regret the four more VX flights I've already booked for the next two months. I fully plan on avoiding VX metal until the merger is complete and the VX metal/crews go away.