Thanks for your email. Given that I never seem to be able to use my mileage, the most important thing is status perks -- lounge access, upgrades, free baggage and change fees waived, etc. I actually find the BA executive program quite nice in that regard, but most of my travel is from the US to Africa. There are no partners that fly directly to Africa (unlike SAA, DL and soon UA), and even if I want to go through Europe, they do not have good connections to West Africa. Connections to East Africa are good, however. I also work a lot in France. While I can take open skies, Orly is inconvenient. THe real problem is that I am spoiled by BA business class, and while in many respect SkyTeam is the way to go, I have only had awful experiences on Delta. And from what I am reading, DL has not been good in terms of matching elite status. So, I am leaning toward SkyTeam and CO. I don't like to fly out of EWR, but, they have so many partners that this does not seem like to big of a problem. Again, I am spoiled by the flat-beds of BA, and there are few options in terms of other airlines. Anyone know what the future of alliances will be with Virgin?

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. Any suggestions on where to continue this discussion.