UA 1K and AA EXP (next week) here. I'm starting to get a clue...

In 1998, I flew USAir a lot. Downright stupid of me. :P

In 1999, I did 225K exclusively on UA. At least I got away from US, but it was quite an inefficient allocation of miles, from a status perspective.

In 2000, I did a little over 100K on UA and a little over 50K on AA to get 1K and PLT. Getting better..

In 2001, well, let's not mention 2001. I only did about 60K, all on AA. Fortunately, UA extended my 1K status into 2002.

In 2002, I discovered FlyerTalk and finally figured out how to do things right. I will hit 100,000 on AA next weekend to qualify for EXP and I'll reach 100,000 on UA in two weeks to re-qual for 1K.

Now I just need to do a little over 25K in Nov and Dec to break my PR for miles in a year...