Interesting. I actually really enjoyed my time as a UA elite in a nonhub city. I lived in College Station, TX for a couple of years and alternated my UA flying from AUS and IAH.

Admittedly, this was 2000-2002, so I never dealt with CRJs and had plenty of pre-9/11 time on the routes.

But, it was really nice to get in and out of the airport with minimal fuss. At hub airports, it can really be a hassle to get through the long lines. Also, your status really means something to the ground personnel at a secondary/tertiary station. You also get to know the staff really well in a way that you can't at ORD or DEN.

Now, I was flying to places like ORD and LAX, markets served nonstop by UA mainline (and on the great A319/320s, no less!), but even the occasional AUS-DEN-ORD was not a problem, as the travel day just started so smoothly and pleasantly that little could go wrong.

I remember one time going to the CO terminal at IAH to check something out and the place was just a zoo. I was so happy to get back to the serenity of my sleepy little terminal A and did not envy those CO pax one bit.

I'd take AUS over LAX any day of the week.