Slacker, you sound more and more like a good candidate for UA. My bias is almost always to try and use the carrier that is strongest for in the area, and in this case that is US by a long shot. UA mileage accrual alleviates your biggest concern with US: the chance that they go Ch. 7 and nobody purchases the Dividend Miles program.

I was never a big UA fan myself, but the 1K's seem to like the program a lot. I was PremEx for a couple of years, a so-so mid-tier status. The real value of the program is when you hit 1K.

DL doesn't value discounted coach travelers and CO/NW would probably cause you a lot of unneeded RJ segments. It's too bad AA isn't a strong player at any of those cities: I like their FF program a lot at the low/mid-elite level, and I know EXP's generally like the program as well.