Welcome to Flyertalk vincevalen!

I can relate to being overwhelmed with the plethera of choices as a newbie. I was the same. That's why I suggest signing up for all of them! Don't choose only one, go for them all.

Now if you only travel that route twice a year you will not gain much in terms of elite status but you will earn some nice RDM coinage. Depending on what airline you fly you will earn miles in different ways.

Southwest (WN), Virgin America (VX) and jetBlue (B6) will give you miles depending on the dollar cost of your ticket, a bonus for buying it through their website and/or using their co-branded CC's.

American Airlines (AA), Delta Airlines (DL) and United (UA) give you RDM miles and Elite Qualifying Miles depending on your miles flown and what fare class you buy.

I would suggest that you do like many flyertalker's who do not fly frequently, including myself, and earn your miles from partner bonus offers.

Credit Cards are the biggest and most bountiful. They really are the best way to travel free without ever flying. I understand wanting to avoid this side of the travel community but the benefits of these cards really are amazing.

Financial institutions offer bonus offers for account opeings (Fidelity,TD Ameritrade and BankDriect) these are large as well.

There are tons of offers all the time. From Netflix to e-shopping. Keep reading these forums and you will be on your way to earning free flights.