jeversol

Houston is the only airport I have been to where they make announcements saying jokes will lead to arrest. I think it's either a local or state thing.

Also, plastic butter knives. How stupid can you get? Only at IAH.

If you're taking one or two flights a year, fly who has the cheapest flight for the time you want to fly. Without looking, there will be no direct flights from Seattle to Oklahoma -- you'll probably have to connect somewhere.

When you consider cheapness, make sure you include things like checked baggage. Unless you're going to for a weekend trip, save yourself the headache and just pack a suitcase and check it. Domestically, you probably will have no issues with lost luggage or anything like that. (I check a bag for every trip, and in 3 years, my suitcase has never been lost or delayed. In fact, it made it back home a few hours before me on one trip with an unexpected overnight delay).

If I was flying once or twice, I'd consider Southwest. They generally have some of the lowest prices, include a checked bag in their ticket fee, and seem okay. JetBlue or Virgin America would by my picks for best amenities in flight... but they don't go but a few places (compared to Southwest or others).

What airport will you be flying out of and into? If your home airport is the hub for an airline, it makes sense to use that airline (knowing that your upgrade chances are lower because of the higher population of elites). For example, if you're flying from Silicon Valley to New York, United is a good option because both San Francisco and Newark, NJ are United hubs and United offers a premium product between LAX/SFO and JFK.

Are you flying for work? If so, find out if your employer has any requirements or preferred airlines. My employer prefers United and Delta, and gets better rates with them, no so much with American. When I started, Newark was my home airport. It's a United hub, so it was no brainer for me.

The legacy airliners (American, Delta, United, and US Airways) all are pretty equal in their requirements, benefits, and perks. Delta platinum gets you free access to their airport lounges, whereas United doesn't give free club access to any tier. United tends to have the best award seat availability and best mile-per-dollar. Delta is notorious for having poor award seat availability and high cost (google the term SkyPesos). US Airways and United are in the same partner alliance (Star Alliance) and so flights on US Airways can be credited to United and vice versa (for now. If the US Air and American merge goes through, the new American will leave Star Alliance and just be in Oneworld). Generally speaking, United's ticket prices are higher than the others for some routes. For example, my flight this week was $1,500 for economy round trip. You'll have to shop a bit and see.

Airline alliances are important if you're going to be flying internationally. There are three primary alliances: Star Alliance (US and United), SkyTeam (Delta), and Oneworld (American). Star Alliance is the largest and gets you perks and reward access on (just a few) Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian and ANA. Skyteam gets you KLM, Air France, and Alitalia. Oneworld gets you British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Quantas.

If you don't plan international travel and the places you're looking to fly are serviced by JetBlue or Virgin America, I'd give them a serious look. They have great in-flight amenities. I don't know about their FF programs, but their normal product is better than the legacy carriers.

Low-cost carriers like AirTran and Southwest are the bottom of the barrel when it comes to FF perks. Yeah, you might get a free ticket now and then, but you're going to miss out on upgrades, abilities to buy upgrades into business class on international flights, etc.

Good luck!

What is Delta's revenue requirement going to do to your status level for 2014? United is adding identical requirements. I travel for business, and often have to book travel on little notice, so it's not an issue for me. But, as someone who does mileage runs often, it's going to kneecap your status.

Source: Gold on United, earned by segments.

Delta to JFK is your easiest flight. Looks like JetBlue might also service SLC-JFK so that's an option for you.

4 times a year won't be enough to get any status with the legacy airlines. 3900 miles round trip - you'd have to fly it 7 times to get silver status (assuming no bonuses, buying deep discount economy tickets, etc). You could get it in 5 trips if you bought first class or full fare economy (Y or B).

Given that cost will probably be a factor, I'd probably look at JetBlue or Southwest if I were in your shoes.

If you're in NJ, it'd be worth it to explore flying to Newark rather than JFK. I lived in central NJ for a while. The cheap fares out of LaGuardia were tempting but it's a horrible drive to a horrible airport. I hate Philadelphia's airport just slightly less than LGA. I've never seen more assholes than at Philly. Newark is my go-to airport (not just because United, the carrier I use, hubs there). If you're going into Manhattan, you can't beat NJTransit. Take the airtrain to the rail link station, pay $12.50 one way and you're at Penn Station in 30 minutes.