Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
As @Herb687 has put it: "loyalty is for chumps".
That is a bit harsh; I put significant value on being able to pick an extra leg room seat at time of booking, extra checked bags and priority check-in lines, well worth any incremental cost of loyalty. Being based in SAN, flying 6+x annually to State of Hawaii, AS/OW serves my needs well - enough to make an effort to earn MPVG. YMMV.