. . . The problem is that the strategy won't last forever . . .

Just what makes you assume that this is the long term US strategy? I see it more as a necessity of survival for US and virtually any other airline that wants to live to fly another day in today's market. Give US management credit. They and many other carriers finally get the idea. Granted, bankruptcy reorganization creates both the imperative and the ability to downsize and improve but they did it and the bottom line speaks for itself. The future is not static and neither should we assume that the US vision is fixated on shrinking capacity.

. . . Doesn't look like DP will be taking any advice from FFocus anytime soon . . .

Well, let's just say that lots of us weren't paying attention either. Most people fly to get from point A to point B. It's always been that simple.

Deelmaker makes a good point. US has finally figured out how to get coin back in the coffers. That's all fine and dandy. But the next cloud on the horizon is the product they're going to put out there. Thus far, the message is muddled and early implementation clumsy.

I've been a US advocate mainly because they did the point A to point B job reasonably well and one could extract some value out of DM and FF loyalty while overlooking some of the warts. Will US have a future product for a frequent flyer who llies between a value customer & paying some premium to enjoy the perks as many of us have been doing? There's some disturbing rumblings on the horizon. But flying has always been about choice and time will tell if some of us will have to ponder other options. In the mean time, my hats off to US.

Barry