Apparently DL is moving towards pure "Only your money matters for us but nothing else" business model, where I hope UA will still give loyalty a little more consideration in their business model, since loyalty does increase the chance to help get customers back. For example, UA or Star Alliance is always my first choice while DL is definitely my last choice of carrier when it comes to travel needs unless DL is really the cheapest one with reasonable schedule (I am close to a 1MM with DL due to my flying history with NW but stopped them completely a few years ago). Someday when the carriers are again competing for the general customers sitting in coach, DL will feel the impact from its bean-counter practice.

Lounge access when travel internationally is a welcome and pleasant gift from UA when they offer it to us, especially during inevitable long layovers; however, I will not feel it is the end of the world if they decide to take it away since this is complimentary to begin with, and nowadays I am trying to keep my time at airport reasonable, efficient and simple (e.g. a cup of black coffee, and some walking within the terminal to keep the body active). Along with the ability to board earlier (when needed), the other benefit that I hope them to consider is free seat selection in the standard economy section when traveling on basic economy tickets for premier members, which is a complimentary perk I value the most but apparently no carrier is offering.