Originally Posted by Box5

I'm trying to figure out a new ff strategy. In the old days, it was not hard. Fly any airline and I flew enough to get fairly high status. It was also possible to somewhat concentrate flying to certain airlines.

Now, I fly only about twice a year, maybe 3 times at most. I am thinking of dumping Delta because I figure the threshold is now a ticket of about $1000 round trip.

Calculation method: no status = 5 miles per dollar. $1000 ticket price = 5000 miles or roughly West Coast-East Coast round trip. If the ticket is less than $1000, it's better to fly AA, UA, WN, or the little guys (AS, B6, etc.) For trips half way across the country, maybe figure $600 round trip price as a threshold for flying DL ($600 = 3,000 miles compared to a trip on another airline for 1,500 miles each way).



The next is to choose which airline. Alaska seems like a good choice but UA is an alternative. WN is a 3rd choice. Perhaps rotate flying so you fly each one every 1.5-2 years. In the mean time, burn miles.