Crazy? I fly so many hours out of my way to keep on flights on UA. For example, tomorrow I will fly DTW-ORD-LAX-SNA and have to spend 1.75 hours sitting in LAX just for the miles. I will spend 8.5 hours on a trip that I could have taken non-stop on NW. However, I did not like having to scramble last year at XMAS trying to find enough miles to make 1K. This year, I will have made it by August (both segments and miles, all intra-continental) and will then be FREE to fly any route I choose. Crazy? No. Forsight, yes! By the way I get to fly FC on UA. Worth my time? 9 times out of 10, Yes!

John.