I am also EXP and my first 2 trips to Japan in 2006 are booked on UA and I'll be sitting in E+. Could've booked them on AA and used Vips, but wanted to see the competition.

Lately, it just seemed that AA was going out of thier way to make it a less pleasant experience and that was in Business class. Nothing special in the air.

As with the OP, I'm within striking distance to MM on AA so I'll probably keep flying them even if I move most of my travels elsewhere.