Recently I had My First Terrible Experience with United. Mind you, I've had some bad experiences: lost luggage, staying at the airport overnight because of bad weather, rerouted flight failures, but I've always been patient and relied on my branded credit card's travel insurance to cover my butt (I'm a big believer in branded credit cards--I'm very very brand loyal). But it's been made apparent that this relationship isn't going to work. It's time to move on.

(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Upgrades. I travel a lot for business, but rarely for pleasure and rarely with a companion. So I like priority service, a hot breakfast in a lounge, and the odd upgrade. Previously I would save all my miles with United for the odd business class upgrade on international flights. That's a big deal: those international flights are the hardest.

(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Around 50k a year, economy. Could go up or down in 2016.

(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Economy/cheapest. Because I'm always on someone else's budget, I buy the cheapest tickets. But I'm at a point now where I'm going to dig my heels in. The cheapest tickets are often with the worst airlines.

(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Airline most flown? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
I can choose my airlines, but not my class. I've been loyal to United almost exclusively for the past 3 years. I travel for business almost exclusively, with only 1 out of every 12 flights for personal reasons, usually cashing in some miles to visit a friend last minute.

(5) Which routes and airlines do you fly most often
United in the US, Lufthansa in Europe. Their alliance has been convenient and I love the Lufthansa lounges and premiere treatment I get in Europe. In the US, United Gold doesn't account for much more than a (sometimes) quiet lounge to hide in after 12+ hours in the air.

Most of my travel is international, specifically to Europe. Looking to head over to Asia more in 2016, but Europe will still be a big travel destination. KLM has a direct flight to Amsterdam out of PDX I've heard rave reviews about.

(6) What is your home airport?
PDX

(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
Unite Gold. I have about 25k miles to spend of close to 50k flown.

(8) Preferred Airlines
I'm in love with Alaska Airlines, Virgin in the USA. Overseas, I'm a Lufthansa fangirl, but I've been impressed with Austrian and Swiss.