First of all, I should point out that I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your point of view. For you, it makes perfect sense. I just want to clarify my position.

I know it does. But for my dates of travel it was more expensive than the flights I chose. And I don't mean it was a little more expensive. It was MUCH more expensive. By at least $100 in both cases.

You see, the only reason I decided to take these trips in the first place (aside from the one on WN) was BECAUSE specific airlines were offering limited-time specials on the particular routes. Those limited-time specials are often not matched by other airlines. Had they not had those specials, I would be going on only one of the four trips.

I mean, one can wait until your specific airline offers a special on the route you're interested in. I don't want to have to do that. So I'll fly whatever airline has the special. If no airline has a special, I won't travel at all. That's just the way I have it budgeted.

In the rare case when several airlines are offering the same, affordable, price I will choose UA, because I have almost enough FF miles on that airline to get a free trip to Europe. I've actually gotten two free trips on UA in my life, one domestic and one to Europe, and I think that was quite an achievement!

But even when I travel for work a few times a year I have NO say on the airline that's chosen. The company's policy is: Cheapest possible flight, no exceptions.

Actually, you're pretty much correct. I'm really NOT interested in status, and I'm not really interested in upgrades either. In both cases, I'll take them if I don't have to pay any more for them, but not if I do. And paying any more includes paying extra to fly a preferred airline.

I'm really only interested in getting free (coach) tickets. I'd rather go in two trips in coach than one in business or first.

I do fly a lot on WN, especially for short distance flights, and I have gotten a few free tickets from them. But WN doesn't fly everywhere I want to go. They don't fly to Europe, say, or Canada (I fly to Montreal once every year). They were actually MORE expensive than UA to EWR (with WN I would have to fly to ISP), and also more expensive than ATA to LEX (with WN I would have to fly to SDF).

The bottom line is that for me, I will almost always choose the cheapest airline for my trip, even if it means I spread my travel around many different airlines. Status benefits, and even future free trips, seem very abstract to me, while cold hard cash I can feel in my hands. I mean, if I fly three times on three different airlines, but I save $100 each time, then that's the same as if I'd earned a free $300 trip on one airline.

IF the difference in price is less than, say, $20, I might pay more to get a preferred airline. But that's my absolute limit.

But that's just me, and my philosophy. I perfectly well understand that others feel differently.

Ed