There is NO comparison between United First in the past (circa 1990) and United First today. I recently flew a Lufthansa flight in the upper First Class deck and it reminded me of the fabulous days of Pan Am's international First Class, even before they had personalized screens, and you had to put the "sleeper" part of your seat up manually because there was no electronic mechanism to engage it for you. I've also flown Singapore First Class recently and was sort of sad...since I HAVE to fly UA for most flights I take and can't enjoy the true FC experience that Singapore offers. JAL First is also leaps and bounds beyond anything I've ever experienced on United.

Still, unless there is some other reason to fly another carrier, I'm virtually stuck with UAL if I want the courtesy upgrades.

But the TRUE test is this: if you could pick any carrier you wanted for a trans-oceanic flight, considering service, seats, entertainment, cabin availablilty, First Class Lounge, etc...would it EVER be United?

The answer is simple: UAL better keep dishing out those miles for frequent flyers! Or they should AT LEAST try to offer comparative service on their own international and domestic flights.