Hi, I'm really new to this and sorry if this has been posted a million times but I couldn't find any previous threads that relate to my situation.

I'm not a Ryan Bingham or a frequent flyer in comparison to the pros on this board but I do fly at least twice a year since one of my parents lives in Asia and the other lives in California, and I go to university in North Carolina. So I fly from RDU roundway to PUS or SFO at least once or twice a year for break. I figure that since I'll be making these trips for quite a while, I might as well get something out of it.

I usually fly DL/KAL and thought I start accruing mileage with DL since they are part of the same alliance as KAL and their miles never expire. But I've been seeing a lot of hate on the Skymiles program. So now my question is, is it just better to get a travel card like Chase Freedom/Sapphire or an AMEX card and forgo airline "loyalty" or should I stick to an airline and just accrue miles with them (namely Delta since I find their service a lot better than AA or UA)?