^ a big +1 - what I miss about being based in IND

My miles have value, too. Not nearly as much value as my time and comfort, though.

Nothing particular against AA - they are okay if their limited network aligns with yours - but this notion that more valuable miles justify taking second-best is something I can't relate to. DL simply offers, to my mind, a better travel experience, and that would hold true even if AA were not a bit of a basket-case right now.

Delta does exactly this, so I don't think it's unreasonable at all to expect unlimited halfway decent alcohol to be available after paying $50 for a day pass.

Having spent a lot of time in both Delta and American lounges, the AA lounge experience is inferior in almost every way.

Correction: The Flagship lounges (while very nice) are only available if you are flying international first class. International business doesn't cut it.

Correction: AA EXP has access to Flagship when flying internationally regardless the class of service. Even Y is O.K.
You can also access Admirals Club and/or Flagship when flying certain transcons in J or F:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/utility/trans-con-access.jsp

I think AA does a good job for what they have got. A bunch of old planes, older employees and higher costs make it tough for them to be competitive. Look at their 763s and their international product.....it really isn't up to par with DL. I'm just curious to see if the A321s ever come with the configuration they are claiming and if the 777-300s all have the promised product. If AA emerges from BK solo, I expect all of those announcements will come to be. However, if US and AA merge I am imagining all those plans to go out the door and the new airline to look more like US who is a legacy carrier but acts like a low cost carrier.

Assuming AA emerges solo from bankruptcy I think they will probably end up having the best product in a few years of any domestic carrier since all their planes will be new and their premium routes will actually have premium seats. AA would (hopefully will) be a very strong player once they get their costs in line and all of the older planes retired and regional flying from Eagle chopped/spun off. As it stands now though, the product really lacks and its in many ways sad to see what has become of AA in New York. B6 has just chewed away at their share and now DL has gone in for the kill in NYC. I feel like the same thing is happening in Texas and Florida too as competitors sense weakness and go in and expand. NK, B6, WN, UA all have grown in Florida and Texas markets as AA just tries to stay afloat and protect their fortress hubs. It will be interesting to see what happens with AA in the next few years. I personally am rooting for them and think they will emerge from bankruptcy as a very strong competitor.

I'd rather have a widebody on the tcons but if the narrowbody improves the product then I'm OK with it.

Last time I went to Costco, a handle of Makers ran me $36. Since I have no other hard figures, I'll assume it would cost the airline the same amount despite massive volume. Even someone who hits the alcohol moderately hard and packs away, say, 6 drinks during a 2-3 hour layover would consume about $5 worth. Sure, you could compare it to an airport bar and say that tab would have run $75, but the fact that the day pass visitor "only" pays $50 isn't why they don't serve better liquor. It's because of the members who they serve the stuff to all year long for a rate much lower than what the day pass visitors are paying.

You got me on the EXP access, but business class doesn't get you access to the Flagship Lounge; only first.

MIA D30, the larger one, then MIA D17 - still decent size and I do have to give them credit, neither of the lounges seemed as crowded as most sky clubs.

Not so much...there were plenty of free seats and it was fairly quiet (kids, phone talkers, etc).

Jim Beam is fine for my redneck palate, but I hate when the servers thing Jack is bourbon.

I have to put in a plug for Global Entry, here. It saved me a good hour and a half clearing immigration and customs in MIA. Granted, I didn't have any checked luggage, but it was a huge stress reducer. Getting through immigration with no line is worth the price in itself, but bypassing the 200 person customs line was icing on the cake. For $20 a year, I don't know why everyone doesn't have this...but I shouldn't be sharing the word, because if too many people get it, I'll have lines :)

I dunno, I think Delta sells day passes for $25 and their drinks are pretty good :)

Granted, I should have done more research on the Admiral's club, but it was a short-fused trip, so I decided to just dive in and experiment.

That was kind of the point, but I was prepared to be pleasantly surprised or disappointed. Just reporting that it was on the disappointing side, paying the entry fee and then being charged and additional $12 for a drink I could get in a SC free (Woodford is okay, the stuff AA had for free that I'd never heard of was too scary to risk). $50 was an investment in a research mission, more or less, to compare a product I hadn't experienced. The restrooms were clean, which is why I hit the Sky Club half the time :)