I'm a somewhat recent resident of Maui and do a lot of flights to the west coast. Prior to a couple years ago I hardly flew so this whole FF program thing was quite a learning curve. There's a ton of good info here and some REALLY knowledgeable folks that are quick to help.

I'd start by understanding how the mileage programs work - RDM (spendable miles) v. EQM (status building miles)
Fare classes and booking is quite a rabbit hole. A couple years in and I still stumble upon things I don't know.
Once you attain some status, understanding how the upgrades work can be beneficial.

Overall, I'm super-happy with AS but that's not to say things get annoying from time to time. There's a pretty steady stream of IT mishaps and glitches but that may just be life with any airline in today's "techie" world. AS has a solid presence to/from Hawaii so you made a good choice.