What frequent flyer program for us cattle?
 

I used to have it all. Travel upgrades, elite status, etc. Now I am cattle. Moooooo. I only fly about 6 times per year. That's sub-human but not quite cattle if I concentrate on only one airline.

On the other hand, the benefits of silver or the lowest level elite on most airlines is minimal. A few will give you one bag free check-in or might allow an occasional upgrade if the plane is empty.

What should I do? Maybe just consider fares and schedules and then slowly get miles as an afterthought.

Candidates for loyalty include Alaska (because of DL and AA credit available and some AS usage), AA (because they won't have miles based on the ticket price for a few more months), Delta or, maybe, Southwest. UA schedules aren't too good. JetBlue and Virgin don't fly where I need to go.

Maybe I should just put my tail between my legs and start eating grass. Moo.

It's probably far more worth it to just buy whatever is cheapest, yet most comfortable. If you see an AA MCE seat for the same price as a Delta C+ seat but the Delta flight is nonstop, take the Delta flight. If you see an AA biz fare to europe for $3k but the same on Turkish for $2k, take the Turkish. There's no level of status that makes it worth it going out of your way or sacrificing comfort if you're only flying that much.

standard, I think it depends on the routes you fly. If domestic U.S. or short-haul routes, it may make sense to either go with the best schedule, price, or, you can get some status benefits just by getting the airline's co-branded credit card.

If you do 6 long-haul flights, you might just be able to acquire enough status in the airline or its alliance in order to improve your travel experience.

What frequent flyer program for us cattle?
 

What mikekelley said... Find the best combo of value and comfort for the flight you want to take and roll with it!

I like USAirways program. And you can always buy your way up in points too.

Good advice though the airline's co-branded credit card gives you miles, when cash back might be better.

What the current situation does is breed non-loyalty. In the end, I will have a pecking order of airlines that I prefer, but a better schedule or lower fare will triumph unless the difference is only an hour or $10 more in fare.

My travel and use of rental cars and hotels is often enough that I can easily keep about 5 airline accounts active (UA/AA/DL/AS/WN)

ha ha, Diarrhea! What about Northwest WorldPerks, TWA Aviators or Continental's OnePass?

Are you close enough to a lifetime status level (one million miles or whatever) to put that target in reach over the next few years at your current rate of travel?

I personally am a fan of Pan Am's WorldPass and Braniff Travel Bonus Bonanza :D

It may heresy, but if you only fly domestic and don't care about status, SW seems to be the way to go.

Not sure about the other airlines, but I know that Delta's Gold Amex (lowest tier of their Amex card) offers priority boarding and free checked luggage for you and up to 9 people travelling with you. The $95 annual fee is waived the first year. At $25 per checked bag this card pays for itself quickly and helps you avoid the bin wars.

It appears that you're looking to enjoy frequent flyer benefits without actually flying frequently. Nothing wrong with that but it's probably unrealistic to expect the airlines to view you as a "loyal" customer with this spend pattern.

The frequent flyer programs are built to retain customer loyalty, not create it. I.e. spend first, enjoy benefits later. The difference is subtle to most but you're use-case is a good example.

I remember it being called the Braniff "Get It All" frequent flyer program.

Not quite. I have the most miles in Delta, but only about 750,000 miles. At my rate of travel, it may be 20 years to reach 1 million. Most of the 750,000 miles was done in less than a decade.

What I liked about elite was domestic upgrades. On US Airways, I got a few free transatlantic upgrade coupons, which I used all except one. Of course, those upgrades were flat, tilted seats, not the little pods like are common now.

I wish I was around in the time of Braniff, Pan Am, Eastern etc..

I am hearing this more and more. Sadly, I may have to explore this option myself in 2016.