I think people want something for nothing sometimes and that is why they whine.

Why wouldn't you fly the cheap fare unless you were really shooting for an upgrade and/or needed some flexibility in your itinerary?

I fly the cheapest fare possible (not always necessarily L, U, or T, but about 75% of time). I earn my Silver Medallion status for roughly under $8000/year and I can't complain. $8000 on Delta gets me a lot further than on my other choices - NW, CO, and US out of MOB.

I get an exit row window seat (my favorite place to sit in coach beacuse I can lean against the window and sleep and getting to board first, I can be asleep before takeoff) just about whenever I want it. And, I even get my occasional upgrade to the First Class cabin.

Delta does some irritating stuff sometimes, but my goal is to get there safely and promptly and DL is satisfactory in that regard.

I guess I fall under the category of 'discount leisure traveler'. I am an aspiring journalist that writes for our college newspaper here and fly for that sometimes (covering sports or some other random event), but that probably doesn't classify me as a business traveler, thus I am pleased with my Silver Medallion status. 90% of my airfare is paid out of my own pocket. I suppose that is why I am interested in a message board like this - to learn the tricks.

It kills me to see people who work for a company that pays for their air travel and yet they are always dissatisfied. They're not taking THEIR money elsewhere, they are taking their company's money elsewhere. More power to them I suppose. I'd hate to see people if they actually spent $25,000-$75,000 out of their own pocket that they couldn't write-off on their taxes. I suppose that there are some people who do.