Award flights are not free. All have real taxes. Awards flights on some ffps/routes/airlines can have cash surcharges that range from small to eye wateringly high. (like AA awards on BA flights). Award availability is never guaranteed. You can book awards from 353 to 330 days out (depends on the ffp). Long haul awards can be hard to get. More so if at a peak time and/or popular dates.

Frequent flyer miles are not equal to earn or burn. Each ffp is different. Most ffp’s have expiry rules for ff miles. Some have hard expiry:- they expire after X months (use them or lose them)

Having multiple ffp’s with low balances is never a good idea. You never get enough ff miles/points to be of use before they expire. FFP’s are for the long term.

There is a difference between frequent flying and frequent spending (to get ff miles from credit cards)

USA based airline ffp's tend to be more generous (status benefits/earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry/affiliated credit cards/promotions) compared to non USA based airline ffp’s (even after the recently announced changes to some USA ffp’s)

The airline you fly most or an airline of the country you live is the best ffp for many people. Generally however you are better earning on your primary airline due to greater recognition, better service when disruptions, ability to upgrade flights and possible operation upgrades.

Look and ask here:- http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html