I am a leisure traveler. I have family living in Buenos Aires Argentina and I want a plan that I can travel on to other areas that will allow me to use those points and get a companion upgrade when I travel to Buenos Aires. I do fly often while in South America and would appreciate any advice on FF options that would maximize the miles on this flight.

(1) What is your home airport? JFK, EWR, LGA (NYC area)
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Y and Discounted Economy
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 20k-40k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None. I just enrolled in AAdvantage.
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Frequent upgrades on travel, priority services when flying the airline, good award redemption rates, easy to travel with partner airlines
(6) Which routes do you fly most often US:JFK-MIA, JFK-DCA. International: JFK-EZE, EZE-GRU.
(7) Preferred Airlines: Airline that would provide the best route to EZE.
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure.