I think (hope?) that UA will continue to renovate the UC's in the system. I do understand the fear that Polaris will/is sucking all the capex for lounges, but UA knows many of the UC's need to be updated. We will have to wait and see what happens, or how long it takes.

On transcons I mainly fly LAX-BOS/DCA, LAX-JFK/EWR-[insert connecting city] and I choose flatbed aircraft (or VX if a day flight, but that's over after this summer). Time permitting, I'll fly out of the way to cross the country on a flatbed aircraft. I want the most convenient routing, within the time window at the cheapest fare, so for each flight they all have a chance at my money.

And you know what, it's still complicated. I have lower tier elite status across the board because I'm a free agent. I am preferential towards UA due to my 1.1 million miles worth of history with them. All else being equal, I will still choose DL over UA because I bought into the DL marketing machine and they are consistent. B6 has great food and FA's but the seat is hard. Really hard. But I can't say no to the throne seat. If I know I'll want a shower at some point in the journey, that also impacts my decision.

Whats my point? I like how some of y'all are real clear cut with hard lines and set patterns, but that's not me. I consider different factors when making a decision. I'm a human not a robot and for any given trip I consider my needs.

p.s. My last DL flatbed flight the aircraft and my seating area were filthy and my seat was broken. My last UA flatbed flight was delayed because the aircraft was broken, and my last B6 flatbed flight was delayed 4+ hours and as we all know their IRROPS recovery is poor. I have a hard time at this point calling any airline queen of the transcons.

p.p.s I fly fewer AA flatbed transcons because I'm trying to connect through JFK, not end there. Also their pricing is a bit wonky.