[jimworcs]

Frankly, that is by far the best solution for you and your family. Frequent flyer programmes are by design intended to distort the market and undermine normal competitive pressures. When frequent flyer schemes are in place, customers make their purchasing decisions taking into account factors such as how many miles they will receive, rather than considering price and/or service and convenience. Because the majority of miles are racked up by business travellers where companies pick up the tab, and the majority of miles "spent" are spent on purchasing trips and benefits for the personal benefit of the employee. The airlines know this. The design of the schemes is intentionally to distort the market and allow airlines to charge more and provide a lesser service, without the normal penalty of people doing what you intend to do in the future.

Norway has outlawed frequent flyer schemes for domestic travel because of their negative effect on the market. Milwaukee will be better off in the long term if all customers followed your lead. if only Congress and the DOT were as enlightened as Norway, we could get rid of the robber barons of the airline industry and have a genuinely competitive air market.