Originally Posted by GrayAnderson

I'm not new to the FF game, but I'm really trying to fish out what I should do as far as FF programs go with the impending Virgin-Alaska merger (which I am so not thrilled about as it appears to be an impending catastrophic devaluation).

Originally Posted by GrayAnderson

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7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in each FFP, if any?
>>> Reply: Gold, VX (180k points); Gold, VS (40k points); about 15k points on SQ as well. I have an "incidental remainder" over on DL (about 3k points from the only one-way trip I ever credited to them). Let's ignore my Amtrak pot for the purposes of this discussion so long as they're not paired with one of the "pooling" programs.
-In non-FFP transfer partner programs, I presently have 31k at *wood (with probably another 30k incoming via the CC), probably a few thousand inbound from Chase, and am climbing back towards 50k with Hyatt.

8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
>>> Reply: Virgin America has been my preferred airline; I'm looking for "exit opportunities" in light of the Alaska merger, however (since from what I can tell, Alaska has a lot of partners with mediocre access, and results on their award booking engine have been non-inspiring).
-At the moment I'm backstopping VX with VS status (which carries indirect bonuses on Delta) but I'm also in need of a longer-term option. There's a good chance I'll end up shifting to JetBlue (their Mint product looks excellent) but their FF program, from my POV, isn't worthwhile (weak direct benefits and basically no partner utility) and I'd be better off cross-crediting miles to another program (even if said program is foreign).
-Post-merger Alaska may be an option if they keep a reasonable amount of VX's F cabins around...but for various reasons I'm inclined to seek out a crediting partner.