Originally Posted by cmd320

Exactly. When F becomes upgrade class the product suffers badly.

Originally Posted by xiphoid76

For us, the best thing we are doing is moving from Minneapolis to East Tennessee. This will take us away from having to rely on Delta as it is the dominant airline in this market. I am platinum, and will have flown enough this year to be Diamond by November for next year. Tons of work, but also travel fo fun and 95% on Delta. I am so tired of their lack of service and rude flight attendants. But the biggest problem is what many people have said is the IT issue. Having to wait multiple hours to make a tiny change or cancel a flight is ridiculous for platinum members. I get the employee shortage, but then fix the IT stuff. Will be so nice to be able to just find the best flight from Knoxville next year based on price or convenience - and the flights we have checked out this year to see how much it will be ALWAYS are cheaper from Knoxville than a non-stop from Minneapolis!

Originally Posted by TheMadBrewer

I will. There is a long thread on the UA forum here

I may be too old to learn a new language (I still catch myself using NWA-isms ) and in my four legs I think there are four different J configurations. On three I managed to get single seats but the last leg (EWR-LAX) is 2-2-2 in J, so I *could* have somebody next to me.

Originally Posted by ezefllying

Depending on your tolerance for layovers, take a look to see whether the EWR-LAX flight after yours has the new, 1-1-1 layout. Alternatively, it's possible that UA does an aircraft swap closer to departure date and puts you on a plane with the new seating.

Originally Posted by xiphoid76

For us, the best thing we are doing is moving from Minneapolis to East Tennessee. This will take us away from having to rely on Delta as it is the dominant airline in this market. I am platinum, and will have flown enough this year to be Diamond by November for next year. Tons of work, but also travel fo fun and 95% on Delta. I am so tired of their lack of service and rude flight attendants. But the biggest problem is what many people have said is the IT issue. Having to wait multiple hours to make a tiny change or cancel a flight is ridiculous for platinum members. I get the employee shortage, but then fix the IT stuff. Will be so nice to be able to just find the best flight from Knoxville next year based on price or convenience - and the flights we have checked out this year to see how much it will be ALWAYS are cheaper from Knoxville than a non-stop from Minneapolis!

Originally Posted by TheMadBrewer

Add me to the list of DL pausers.

I was looking to book an open jaw in J -- into BRU and out of BER in October. Delta has suspended service to those cities -- that is fair. But it means flying into AMS or CDG and taking a train -- which also means another country's COVID paperwork. OK, doable.

But the AF and KLM flights out BER to connect to LAX leave at 6am, which probably means staying at an airport hotel the night before. Again, doable. Also looked at returning from FRA -- four hour train ride and lose most of day in Berlin.

One time when searching on Google Flights I didn't check the "Sky Team" box and lo and behold a UA routing came up $1000 - $1500 less than DL (this is out of my pocket) lie-flats all the way and reasonable flight times. So I strayed and booked on UA. An added bonus is avoiding the mess at LAX T2

Maybe I'll like it, maybe I'll hate it -- we'll see.

Originally Posted by metalblaze

Case in point, I am about to do EWR-BOM non-stop next weekend. Really looking forward to their Polaris product.

Originally Posted by sydneyracquelle

After Labor Day leisure travel usually drops like a rock until Thanksgiving.

Originally Posted by MSPeconomist

Not so much if kids are back in school in person. Also, if the COVID-19 surge continues, fewer will be willing to travel or fly, including domestically. Planning fall trips is not necessarily the same thing as taking those fall trips.

Originally Posted by xiphoid76

For us, the best thing we are doing is moving from Minneapolis to East Tennessee. This will take us away from having to rely on Delta as it is the dominant airline in this market. I am platinum, and will have flown enough this year to be Diamond by November for next year. Tons of work, but also travel fo fun and 95% on Delta. I am so tired of their lack of service and rude flight attendants. But the biggest problem is what many people have said is the IT issue. Having to wait multiple hours to make a tiny change or cancel a flight is ridiculous for platinum members. I get the employee shortage, but then fix the IT stuff. Will be so nice to be able to just find the best flight from Knoxville next year based on price or convenience - and the flights we have checked out this year to see how much it will be ALWAYS are cheaper from Knoxville than a non-stop from Minneapolis!