It's all a shame, especially if it does get worse (in NYC?). I generally like AA (they've all eff'ed me over at some point, even DL-majorly), and I think AAdvantage in combo with OneWorld is pretty good. But they've definitely made it harder to be loyal out of NYC given my flying patterns. My company dropped AA as a preferred carrier, moving from DL/AA to UA/DL, so between that and the nonstop cutbacks it's just become more difficult. Fortunately I just made lifetime Gold, so I'll have something when AA is the best option. But a lot of my EQDs have moved over to DL. Can't say I love that (Skypesos, etc.) but we all just have to weigh a whole bunch of factors in deciding what works best for us. If UA (and EWR) weren't so bad, I'd probably move over to them for Star Alliance.