Back in the 80s and early 90s I never cared about the miles. Each year I would get enough miles to get a free ticket on at least 3 airlines. Sine I went to different cities all the time I would go by fare and schedule.

I would just give the free single tickets to my Mom who loved to travel. The free tickets seemed so out of reach. 20,000 miles was at least 10 trips. And why would I go on vacation on a different airline than my wife?

I know better now about the miles but we now have few choices on what airline to take as most of them are gone.