Much of the complaining, it seems to me - and I include myself here - has to do with unmet expectations. For a looooong time, the loyalty proposition was that if you put your butt in UA seats consistently enough, you'd get perks, including upgrades. It feels like eons ago, but really it was only in 2019 - when the introduction of PQDs made explicit the need to spend rather than just fly - that you could no longer hit 1K without spending. Since forever before that, upgrades were the reward for actual miles and segments flown. (Somewhat offset, of course, by FCM/TODs.) Then the pandemic happened, first stopping travel almost altogether, then, as we see now, unleashing a torrent of demand with insufficient capacity...all while UA to steps to let everyone easily keep their status and their PP. So really there's been a backlog of legacy elites and expectations, not matched by supply, that has yet to be cleared out. I expect this is what will happen in 1H2023.

All of this is to say that we're stuck between the memory of our past experiences with M+ and the emerging reality that the game really has changed. Relative to the past, we're all paying more and getting less...that's not likely to change given how uncompetitive the airline landscape is in the US. (International is of course another matter.) How it will change going forward is yet to be seen. The ranks of elites will be culled in January 2023. You actually had to fly this year to earn status for next year (particularly for 1K). The backlog of unused PP will start to expire. And then there's prices. Looking to book my work trips for 1Q next year, I'm seeing Y prices holding at what they've been so far but F is 50% more. No more $1,200 transcon P fares, that's for sure! Will those prices stick if/when the recession comes? Who knows? My guess is that we're looking down the pike at a lot of volatility in capacity and pricing until UA/AA/DL start feeling optimistic enough to expand domestic capacity again. Who knows where our expectations will be by then. But I'm sure we'll all be complaining about them no matter what pans out...