I had no idea how this thread would develop when I first posted, but I should have guessed there would be some ST bashing going on.

Personally, I like SkyTeam - they have a big presence in TLV (my home base) with KL, AF, AZ, OK and DL (codeshare with LY) and soon RO (and I have seen Air Europa as well from time to time), they consistently have the cheapest J and Y fares from TLV to almost everywhere I fly and I like for the fares that I fly that I get between 100 and 150% of miles on Y.

When you get right down to it, IMHO, we're travelling on a flying bus - whether its BA (my previous favorite airline till they slashed and burned lots of Y fares to 25%) KL or LH when flying in Y. I don't have high expectations from my bus driver on the ground nor do I have high expectations from the FA's. It's nice when I get treated special, but putting things in proportion none of the travel really is important (I use the five year rule for determining importance - will I remember / will it matter in five years from now).
I feel that way even though I will most likely log > 250,000 miles this year (about 25% J /75 % Y).

I guess for me the only thing that works using the 5-year rule is how I spend my miles in a memorable vacation with the family. I picked SkyTeam because they will get *me* to a meaningful return. Of course, everyone has their own special and personal perspective on choosing an alliance - I am just sharing mine...