Welcome to FT, Vance!

Your being from Tampa reminds me of something a friend from the Orlando area once joked: "I don't know which way I'm going when I die, but I know I'll have to change in Atlanta."

For service to BHM (I picked the largest city in Alabama in the absence of specifics) it's Delta via ATL over anyone else. They also have good service to Europe from there and connections within the continent through their partnership with Air France, plenty of flights to the left coast, a daily nonstop to Tokyo as well as code-share flights via partners, and reasonable service (again often via partners) to the rest of the planet.

So, that would be my first choice. I know they're in bankruptcy proceedings now, but I doubt they'll go under or do anything to antagonize potentially good customers. In fact, other airlines in similar situations in the past have tried to make their frequent flyer programs more attractive than they had been before.

My suggestion would be to read the Delta and SkyTeam forums (fora?) here and the information on their Web sites. If nothing you see there scares you off, sign up and concentrate your flying on DL/SkyTeam as much as possible. Get a Delta SkyMiles Optima credit card to earn more miles- some of which may also count toward status. Focus, not spreading your flights around at random, is a big part of success at this game. You'd be surprised at how fast your miles can add up - especially once you start using your chosen airline's partners for things like sending your fiancee flowers!

(P.S. Before the spelling police come down on you too hard for this, the person you're engaged to is a "fiance" if male, "fiancee" with two e's if female as yours seems to be. Blame the French if you don't like it, but that's how it is. Theoretically there ought to be an accent on the e after the c too, but it's not necessary in English.)