Stranger, I agree with your point and I misunderstood enegytogo's. I thought the post was saying AC should allow free seat assignment just to be consistent with UA, which makes no sense. To be competitive, which I believe was the point, does make more sense.

I'm no fan of the a la carte concept either. I hate the idea of paying for IFE and I don't like the lack of free hot meals in Y on longer flights. My bigger issue, however, is the break up of the AC group - especially the spin off of Aeroplan. I don't think this will look like such a brilliant idea in a few years' time, just like the creation of the 'Tango' subsidiary post 9/11 proved not to be such a resounding success.