I sorta agree that you should split loyalties. Eggs in one basket and so forth.

But I have a hard time upgrading on UA in IAD on IAD-SFO and IAD-SEA and other domestic nonstop routes, the 1Ks get there first.

I think it depends upon where you are and the airline, as to how hard it is to stand out from the crowd. I had no trouble upgrading on AA when I flew AA but I wasn't flying out of DFW either.

Also, if you do a lot of flying on one airline, don't you have a lot more leverage with that airline, I mean in the 200K mile per year category or whatever? I can't imagine you'd get anyting but good treatment that way.