"Phenomenal" comes at the 100k+ levels. Maybe even higher now.

Here's the way I've always looked at it:
- Legacy carrier no-status is the worst way to travel.
- Southwest no-status is better than that.
- Legacy carrier low-tier is on par with, or maybe a little better than, Southwest. AA Gold nets me about the same seat that WN A-List nets me. AS MVP does a little better since I actually get an upgrade once in a while and have a high hit rate on extra legroom seating.
- Legacy mid-tiers and up get more compelling, thanks to lounge access and confirmable E+/MCE type seating.
- Legacy top-tiers with confirmable long-haul upgrade instruments are great.

So if you're in the no-status to low-status range, and you have a bunch of routes where WN has a nonstop, it makes a lot of sense.

I should know...I feel like I"m the King of the Low-Tier Statuses. I often have three or four of them at a time and a weird pattern of travels that makes getting to a higher tier fairly unlikely. Ugh...

I largely agree with that. That said - DL with no status, a decent credit card with lounge access... and zone 1 because of the credit card. That's not a bad combo. I've been very happy thus far. I'm concerned that I won't be as happy on WN A-List. But I want to be able to show my employer that I'm saving them money. And in my department, flying WN is seen as a badge of honor. I want to be a good teammate and save the company money.

Every once in a blue moon, I wind up with a middle seat. That's something that would never happen on WN A-List. Which is ultimately what I will do. We'll see how it goes.

Just between you and me, almost every airline is easy to like if you are willing to forgive an occasional mistake. I even like RyanAir.

Edited to add: The secret is to learn each airline's system and adapt to it.

Assigned seats, hot breakfast for sale, extra legroom option & free reserved seats for up to 4 children between 2 and 12 years old with every adult seat booked.

What's not to like?

True, but one would assume that if you're flying enough to justify the airline credit card that includes lounge access, you're flying enough that you won't be no-status for long. So if you think you can get to mid-tier on DL or better, I'd probably just stay there unless Southwest gives you more frequencies, better times, etc.

The Zone 1 boarding makes me think it's DL's lounge-access credit card. The problem is that if you don't fly DL anymore, those lounges might be hard to get to. (I don't think Zone 1 comes with regular Amex Platinum does it?)

If you fly a lot of WN, you could go the poor man's version of lounge access and get one of the many credit cards that include Priority Pass Select. There are a few of these that net out to be free (or less than free) assuming you can use the hotel benefits. SPG Luxury, HH Aspire (both Amexes) would do it. The lounges are hit-and-miss with the WN route map, but I've managed to pair up a lounge with a Southwest flight in several cities. LGA, PHX, PDX, SEA, LAS, ATL...off the top of my head.

Lounge quality varies - I definitely do not advise people to spend much on PP. Just let Amex pay you to carry their Aspire card around and use the PP benefit a few times a year as a bonus.

FYI, I get Zone 1 from my Delta Platinum card, which I also got from Delta Gold Amex. Right now it's still worth it to just pay $30 to get into SkyClubs because more often than not I've got less than an hour between flights anyway and never leave the gate.

Also for those accustomed to AA, Zone 1 on Delta is behind PREM and SKY (along with active duty military, families, etc.) So it's similar to Zone 5 on AA. Maybe slightly better.

I used to have a regular Amex Platinum that I let go. The lounge access was nice but not worth it for the 18 or so (all domestic) trips I take each year, maybe 10 of which have a lounge-worthy segment.

I rationalized the switch to WN thusly:

• Slightly better seats than assigned seating on Delta if I'm A-List. Never another middle seat, basically.
• Saves me money personally because I should never have to purchase a roughly $60 seat upgrade to get out of a middle seat situation (which rarely happens, but does sometimes on Delta... especially when I've been rebooked after weather in ATL).
• Saves the company money.
• Makes me a team player.
• Fewer summer delays due to storms in ATL. Delta does a good job on this stuff but you can't get away from climate. It storms a lot in the summer at ATL.

What will hurt:

• On a handful of trips per year where I'd usually enjoy a SkyClub in ATL, I won't have lounges in DAL and STL.
• Fewer flight options. A handful more pre-6AM flights are in my future.
• Sometimes I will have to fly without status on DL or AA because WN doesn't go everywhere. I would otherwise have Delta Silver Medallion or AA Gold, which doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot, though. And as I mentioned before, Delta with a decent credit card is still generally a great experience.
• Another CC fee for the WN card. I will probably keep my Delta Plat card and AA Plat Select.

Overall, the positives outweigh the negatives.

I like this analysis which is similar to what I'd decided when the AA program was gutted 2 years ago. But you left out one important one: JetBlue. I rank it about the same as Southwest. I truly believe that to be treated with any level of dignity by the legacy carriers, you need at least low-tier status. JetBlue and Southwest treat all their passengers with a basic level of decency/dignity.

Of course the ultra low cost carriers treat all of their passengers the same, too, but without dignity and decency. :D. 28" seat pitch is just wrong.

Jet Blue doesn't have any flights to my airport, so I've never flown them. I wish that were an option.

Agree. 28" pitch is an abomination.

Until your incoming flight is a few minutes late and/or the connection starts boarding early. Then your overpaid BS A01 boarding pass and A List+ status will get you a middle seat on a LAX-BWI transcon! Happens to me quite a bit since I generally have to connect everywhere.

Yikes.

I might regret this decision. :(