Hi there, reposted this from the Newbie thread as I've since realised this is probably a more appropriate place:

After looking around a few frequent flyer programs I have decided I would like to focus on oneworld mainly due to my geographical position and the flights and costs on offer. However, I find myself in a bit of a difficult situation as to how I could proceed. I live in Edinburgh but my partner's family lives in Cape Town, and I know I will be making consistent journeys once or twice a year for the foreseeable future. I am a student at the moment and so price will usually be the defining factor for me, but I am interested in building up points to redeem on travel. So I've had a look at how I can earn points and redeem them with Qatar or BA.

AVIOS on BA metal: 33000 avios + £400 surcharges and taxes.
AVIOS on Qatar metal: 100000 avios + £290 surcharges and taxes.
Qmiles on Qatar metal: 98000 qmiles + £290 surcharges and taxes.

So considering flights on the route are generally £400-500 unless in peak times (with Qatar or Turkish) I don't see much value in flying BA, and considering I'm going to struggle to earn 98000 qmiles before they expire (I earnt only 8000 on my first trip recently) I'm finding difficulty seeing how I'm going to get any value out of either frequent flyer program. I'm not particularly bothered about earning status, unless it's going to get me into a better position for lower cost flights. I'm currently considering that I could just fly Qatar, claiming them as avios and spend them on flights around europe. I could also spend them on BA flights during peak times when £400 surcharges could in fact offer a real saving. I suppose ffp's aren't really geared towards infrequent flyers!

Sorry for the long post, just feeling a bit confused over what direction to go in, I have another trip coming up and I don't want to credit the miles to the wrong ffp!

Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and could offer some advice?

Thanks very much!