Originally Posted by L'homme armé

Hello, I've been lurking on here for a while and appreciate all of the helpful advice everyone gives. I was wondering if you could help me find the perfect flier program for my profile, especially as I expect to be doing more flying in the coming years than in the past.

I expect to be making the following flights on a yearly basis:
NYC-TYS or BNA, 4x/year
NYC-BOS, 3x/year
NYC-SFO or PDX, 2x/year
NYC-MHT, 1x year
NYC-MNL, 1x year (possibly with a stopover in another Asian destination like HKG, SIN, NAA)
NYC-CDG or FCO or LHR, 1x/year
possibly another North American destination, 1x/year (ORL, YYZ, WAS)

The NYC-BOS may not happen as often because sometimes I take Amtrak instead. I prefer JFK and LGA as departure destinations, although I'm willing to fly out of EWR if it's much cheaper.

My main goal is converting miles to free flights. If the best program ends up getting me status/upgrades/lounge access, that's great, but I'm not willing to spend more than, say, an extra $25/ticket to get it. I expect all the tickets I buy to be economy class, discounted fares.

Can you help? Pros/cons of the various programs for these trips? Does it make any difference if some years I end up doing less than 25000 miles?

Thanks!