Hopefully this post is in the correct place.

UK resident and for the last 10 years I have been following England's cricket team. When they play somewhere nice (Aus, NZ, Windies) then I go, if no cricket I go to SE asia. Additionally I take a second break each year to the Canary Islands.

I'm looking to cut down on my working time as a lead up to early retirement, and take more overseas holidays. I am not signed up with any FF schemes but thought that given my likely increased airline spend (including flying J for my main hols) I should register somewhere. I know there is another thread where you can get advice on which FF programme is best for you, but before posting there I would like to understand how airmiles / tier miles work.

When I see people saying that they upgraded to F on an Etihad flight using Alaskan air miles, I think how does that work. Is there a post somewhere that explains how the system works and who's miles you can use where?