Originally Posted by
bhomburg
Chasing status with your flying pattern is hopeless. 25-50k miles in cheapest economy - a lot of it on an airline that's not even a partner for most OW programs - will not get you anywhere meaningful, no matter which program.
And will not be any better with other alliances-airlines.
With the change of most USA based ffp's to revenue based for flights on own airline, flying the airline with best fares and best schedule that matches your requirements now has merit. And then treating any ff miles as a bonus, which may or may not, be able to be used.