You are neither too old nor too sensible for this game Mike. Rather the rules of the game are being changed on a massive scale given that there are now only three US based big carriers. What loyalty used to mean to an airline is being displaced by a transactional customer relationship model. They now value selling miles to credit card companies to make profits rather than awarding miles to customers for flying on paid airline tickets. The revenue based scheme for awarding redeemable miles results in the majority of flyers earning 30 to 60 percent fewer miles on the majority of paid airfares. Perhaps being a fee agent is something to explore. Given the great TATL & TPAC Business class fare sales seen from OW or ST, it may be best to choose whatever carrier presents the best value for the money.