Join Date: May 2006
Location: New York, London, Sydney
Programs: United GS/2MM, DL*P, VS*G, AA*EXP, Avis CHM, Hertz Platinum, Sixt*D, HH*D, HGP*P, Starwood*P
Posts: 9,847
The fees at CO don't bother me. It's the inability to do Day-of-Departure international upgrades. Also, standby at UA is just a prettier game.
Saver awards have been mentioned, but CO really is awful with them. Then again, if they join *, you still have access to partner inventory.
Basically, this will be great for me (other than the fact that it will certainly cost me GS because of the EWR hub), so long as 3 cabins, E+, and Mileage Plus remain. Since that is reasonably unlikely to be the case, I'm very much opposed to this move.