It could be the grass is always greener ....
I have only been actively aero-commuting for the last 3 years. I have had a chance to try out various LLC and legacy carriers, and to be honest, it is a love-hate relationship with most of them.

Right now Delta is treating me well. My opinion will probably alter a little once the weather really starts hitting Atlanta. I understand continental is short airplanes, and the load factors are higher than they would like (makes IRROPS difficult to handle). I know they are addressing that. It doesn't help my immediate situation.

Frontier was great when they flew the routes and times I needed. Now that they cut back, I couldn't fly them if i wanted to.

JetBlue is a real enigma for me. They were the first airline I started flying with, but the times they flew didn't work. I started with continental for the better schedule, and found out, by accident, what a FF program really offered. I got hooked. When I saw DL offering the same routes, and the same times, with bigger airplanes, and having the status match with CO, I moved over. Now I am back to considering flying JetBlue, since they have their EML seats, and they changed their flight schedule to exactly what I wanted (even though i have to drive 25 mi to their airport, instead of 10 mi to my local one). There are rumors they are addressing the lack of FF program, and if that means priority TSA and boarding access, then they win me back.

FYI, cost is not the top factor in my ticket choices - schedule and FF perks are. I could care less about points or rewards - if I want to fly someplace, I am willing to pay for it. However, I will always buy the cheapest ticket for the routes I travel - I do not consider it prudent otherwise. The exception is when there is a reasonable priced upgrade offered, such as the $30 EML that JetBlue offers. I can justify that on my expense reports, but I cannot justify a FC ticket.

15 years ago I was a continental fan. Moved to Orlando and decided to move to DL. After 5 years of exclusively flying DL (I fly all leisure on my own dime) I got fed up with the poor customer service, lack of transperancy in upgrades, planes were ok but ground and phone staff was rude. I moved to Continental because of that. I know people with silver or gold in DL who get upgraded all the time but it is hard to compare where and when they get upgraded compared to where and when I get upgraded.
I am not a fan of United. I actually like AF (not CDG) and KL and Schipol. The skyteam (non-DL) lounges are very nice for those of us who do not pay for international first class.
It is a tough decision.
I am more than half way to million miler and can make it in 3-4 years.
As they say: "the devil is in the details" and I will have to see what the CO/UA agreement does for me.

Before you switch to DL, I would spend a few hours reading through all the DL threads. All in all, worse stories than with CO.
good luck

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Don't hold your breath on elite status on B6. They are looking at some changes to the program, but elite status is far from the top of their list of being a good idea. They've stated outright that they don't want to pick up pax based on the TrueBlue program. My interpretation of that is that they are looking to improve partner earn/burn but not much else.

DL flies bigger planes on lots of routes because they have the planes. They are also shutting down more routes than CO is and the DL cuts are from bigger stations seeing cuts IMO. And DL is in the post-bankruptcy period where they are still playing with funny money a bit in terms of their spending, though it also limits their fundability going forward. Finally, their FF program is less friendly than OnePass. The PMUs require high fare (YBM) and come from a limited bucket (I) so they are not the panacea they are often made out to be. Fuel surcharges and partner surcharges on reward redemptions aren't great either. And 2x miles don't get you last seat availability on DL metal like it does on CO.

But if you only care about upgrades it is probably better since the F cabins on their planes are larger.

I hope you are right...
 

I usually have all my trips booked for the rest of the year by this time.

But since I can't find any mileage upgrades from Sept-Dec EWR-SFO,
I'm wait to see what happens. (I can handle SFO-EWR in the exit row)

All my flying is for fun not business.

Here we go: I can fly AA on a 777 from LAX-DFW. On LAX-IAH there are 737. Not the same route, but close. Also, CO also flies a 757 on the LAX-IAH route, but most seem to be 737.

AA may have taken the 777 off the LAX-DFW route for all I know.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

UA also runs wide-bodies on some of their inter-hub routings. DL runs wide-bodies from ATL out west or to MCO (at least they used to for MCO) to increase utilization. And CO runs a couple wide-bodies between EWR and IAH, too. CO does it less frequently and CO has fewer hubs. But they do it. We're not talking about AA running a 777 on DEN-SLC or something like that.

AA also has 767s on JFK-MIA/SFO/LAX. Not a 777, but a wide-body against routes where CO is almost completely 73x.

Also keep in mind that most of DLs domestic wide-bodies are in a domestic config, not BizE. UA and AA are a mixed bag on that front, with some of each.

DFW is a hub for AA and LAX is a secondary hub/focus city whereas LAX for CO is just a regular destination.

When my primary residence was in VA, I used to fly 777s and 767s all the time on UA from IAD to ORD, SFO, and/or LAX. They occasionally use a 747 domestically.

Not to detract from your argument at all, but IAH-LAX is the largest non-hub route by passenger volume for CO, so it is not just a regular destination. EWR-MCO was next in the stats I saw.

The fact is that CO doesn't have wide-bodies to run domestic routes, and if they did have them they wouldn't use them on domestic routes. The real money is on international routes and that's what CO is going for.

I'd guess it's therapeutic. People don't really want to leave their old airline, but they finally reach their breaking point.

Also some of those UA widebodies are doing hub to hub runs
between SFO,ORD,LAX, IAD
CO can only really do this between IAH and EWR.

I think that we'll see widebody domestic runs on UA reduce starting in the fall as they unload some of their 747s and shift around the 767/777.

And the LAX/JFK route is on AA is, IMHO, one of the best domestic flights. I now take that flight close to 20 times a year. It beats CO hands down. It used to be a pain landing in JFK, then driving to Jersey, but I am now used to it. There is an excellent business service--and if you fly business as an elite, there's the chance of an upgrade to first. I won't go back to CO on this route. Realistically gives me the choice of flying a B73X in coach versus business class with AA in a B762. If I fly through SFO or SAN, I get a great B763.

Excellent point. We're also an online community where people should feel free to express their cheers and jeers!

For all the faults with the PMUs, I think the grumblings over them are kind of overblown. Would I like them to be useable for any fare? Yes. Would I like there to be better availability? Sure. But, at the end of the day, I just don't get all of the people that complain about them. It is still more than you get from CO, and they still have their uses, even if not for everyone.

And, for all the complaints, my experience is that upgrade availability (which is the Z bucket for International tickets) is at least as good as mileage upgrade availability with CO. And, while I don't encourage anyone to buy a higher fare without the certainty of an upgrade, if an upgrade is available, I don't think your net cost of an M fare is going to be much higher, if at all, than a lower bucket CO fare + surcharge.

To the OP, welcome to the dark side.