All I can say about that is that all the airlines have changed so much in the past few years, that any experience that predates that (good or bad) about a particular airline is likely not to apply.

AA went into and then out of MRTC (More Room Throughout Coach) during that time.

Most all airlines got rid of free food (plus hot food period) in coach during that time. And there were many other cutbacks in services on most airlines.

Award costs got restructured at least at once at just about every ariline during that time.

Most airlines changed their fleet around a lot (not necessarily getting new planes, but a lot of moving planes from one route to another, etc).

I suggest you spell out what you're most concerned about (I can't guess what your "horror stories" were related to), so that people with current experience can evaluate whether you're likely to have repeats. (You initial post only talked about where you wanted to go, not how. The answer factoring in the "how" can be very different from the answer only factoring in the "where".)

(If you go to any airline's section here on FT, you can read tons of "horror stories" of various types. But you also have to factor out what is anectodal and what is systematic.)