I never flew until I was in my thirties. Got married, divorced and then remarried. That was when I first started traveling. I always travel for pleasure but only use the most convenient airline for any given trip. Thus I am a member of ff programs on three airlines I fly on (AA, DL, HP) and on United only because of the great milage promotions I was able to get without flying. I am not elite on any airline as I do fly several different airlines depending on destination and price. I Have flown first class many times due to either operational upgrades or using miles on long trips. I can live with coach as long as I can keep flying and hope to keep increasing the frequency of my trips.
I got into the collection of miles many years ago when British Airways had an offer for 10,000 miles if you got their credit card. Due to a misunderstanding, We opened two separate accounts thinking we could transfer the miles to AA. When we found out we couldn't, I wrote a letter and they taught us about a family account. That was the beginning of a obsession with miles which has been very successful considering I only do leisure travel.