Well, if you are going to have a tough itinerary, add some fun to it. I should be flying:
Mar 08 PHL to ABQ for Deposition on 9th;
Mar 09 ABQ to PHX for Depo. on 10th;
Mar 10 PHX to DEN for Depo. on 11th; and
Mar 12 DEN to PHL home (don't want to fly red eye on night of 11th).

Instead, I'll fly out to ABQ on evening of 7th, to have the 8th to check around ABQ and Santa Fe (we're going there on 3FF tickets + mine purchased over Easter on TWA). I'll fly TWA because 1) No one flys PHL to ABQ direct, 2) I can get YUP fare on TWA to FC, and 3) will give me segments toward TWA promotion--fly 10 segments by certain date and get 2 free RT tickets for use in fall.

Then, instead of flying back on the 12th, I'll stay on for 2 more days and head to Vail or another resort and pick up a couple of days of skiing. Friend is working on comp. lift tickets for me (he does a lot of ski area liability litigation). Yes, I have a terrific spouse who will let me ski for a couple of days without too much grousing, so long as I use those 2 TWA tickets in the fall for an adult getaway without the kids. Fly back on TWA also so as to use YUP again and to get the TWA segments for the promotion.

While I had almost sworn off TWA, this promotion has caused me to stay on for at least a while. Fly first class and earn a couple of RT tickets, plus the miles on top of it, hard to pass it up.

Thus, a semi-tough itinerary is turned into a real easy one. Only question is whether to fly SWest or Amer. West between ABQ and Phoenix? Don't belong to SW or Amer.West. AW at least can be combined with other airline miles, so would like to take them, but hesitant because of the threatened flight attendant action. Hate to take a segment that I can't get good credit for in a program that I'll ever use.

That's my story and I'm sticking ...(whoops, that one's already taken!). Nuff said.

Djlawman