Originally Posted by izzik

For work travel, I choose based on the following criteria (in descending importance, but all 3 are very important):

Flight schedule > Cost > Experience (aka hassle factor)

Lounge food & plane food don't matter. It is not going to be the best meal of your week.
United offers tons of nonstop options ORD-Europe, with aisle access for all Polaris seats.
Polaris seats are not fancy but you get a flat bed seat that doesn't shake (unlike AA's Safran seats that frequently show up on Europe routes).
If I can go nonstop to Europe, I leave late enough and land early enough to have 2 usable days. Flight connection would burn one of those days.
United is not a discount carrier.. for my route, they're charging $12k in business r/t without a Sat night stay.. with a terrible lounge experience and the worst onboard catering.. and ppl will still fly them.
Not sure why there's so much focus on lounge and food.

Originally Posted by as219

Because not all of us travel for business where time is of the essence?

Because for some of us the entire experience matters?

Because some of us like nice lounges and good food and want them to be part of our travel?

Some of my best travel memories (ie, the getting there as opposed to the destination) involve relaxing in lounges with great food and wine. No problem whatsoever if they don’t for you, but surely you can understand how they might for others, no?

Originally Posted by halls120

Perhaps. But my r/t on AF last year in business was the hands down best J experience I’ve had in years. No tag your own bag, no lines at security, nice uncrowded lounges, and the onboard food, drink and service was better than any other I’ve experienced over the last decade.