Hi all,

Thanks so much for your kind and most helpful responses.

To answer one question: I am an Australian citizen (born and bred) but also retain dual citizenship with the U.S., thus do also hold a SS#, etc. I don't have a US based address whilst I reside here in Australia.

So it seems the overwhelming suggestion is that AA (this is American Airline Advantage, I am presuming from the glossary) is the better course of action for myself?

I'm going to sound like a huge moron here but this would mean I'm restricted to traveling only on American Airlines then, yes?

I prefer to fly on Qantas but if my goal of traveling first class back to LAX is more attainable on AA then I want to try and give it my best shot.

As for being up against such huge competition in terms of status and being able to book 350 days in advance; as much as I would love to, I don't see a way to accrue that many points in 7 months, although I suppose if I was really ambitious I could beg everyone I know to allow me to purchase any large goods with my credit card. lol But that would get old fast.

I'm looking at this other link that was provided (about which option to choose in relation to FFP) and it's quite helpful.