Hi

I'm new here (first post) so apologies if I'm asking the wrong forum.

I'm going to book an RTW from SYD, travelling with partner and 15 month child to LHR, then we go our separate ways until SYD.

First stop needs to be HNL (Mid Jan), then ORF, then LHR.

I've worked out that the best route for the first part, given that I'm travelling with family, is probably:

SYD-HNL
HNL-ORD, ORD-ORF
ORF-ORD, ORD-LHR

but then I'm free to do anything within the rules, from LHR back to SYD.

I'm currently QF Silver, SC 0 and AA nothing.

I was wondering what the best route and carriers would be to

a) maximise miles and SC with QF
b) maximise miles and Q-miles with AA

A secondary question, if that's OK within the one thread, is which program is better? My aim is to pay for 2 first class RTW and earn enough points for 2 freebies SYD-LHR in F return. Considerations are also the differences between BA and AA ORD-LHR in F (I understand that you need to fly with AA to earn AA miles) - I have heard, on this site, that AA F is antiquated - not sure what that means as I have only once flow F - one year ago on BA LHR-SYD. We'd only do the AONEx once, then we'd go for DONEx and hope for/ pay for upgrades. We're planning on doing an RTW once per year and a frebbie return SYD-LHR once a year.

Thanks