My cousin, who works for an Intel contractor outside of PDX, will be spending good chunks of time -- ~6 weeks at a pop -- at the Qiryat Gat fab starting end of this year or early next. Which, of course, sets visions of sugar miles a-dancing in my head.

So, not only for my cuz's sake but my own, I'm looking into our options.

He's a Gold with Alaska, as he flies about 36-40 times per year b/w PDX and SJC. Status (and miles) while nice for him haven't been at the forefront of his consciousness, but six transoceanics a year certainly will begin to matter here shortly.

For me, visits from PDX to TLV will likely be in the 2x/year category. As I'll easily recapture*A Gold via UA this year (my preferred) regardless, I can afford to divert some of my loyalty to LY and/or its partners.

What really appeals to me about LY is the connection timing between my preferred routing on UA into Europe (PDX-IAD-MUC) and LY's flight to MUC. Alternatively, once I'm maxed on whatever status on UA I want, I could conceivably route myself via LAX on LY's metal, which is probably what my cousin will do.

Thots?