Hi!

Well, I guess first, welcome to this side of the ocean. With regards to your question on AF FP or rather known know by one of its "christianed" name, Flying Poo, Flying Boo, etc.. and from the info you gave above, being in the AF/KLM "Flying Blue" program seems to currently have more disadvantage rather than advantage.. with its new slogan "Generous by nature"... the program has become a pain the "derrier" for lots of current members incld me. Earnings in Econ has gone down and it now depends on the sub-class in econ that you have. One more setback is that if you register with a French add, you will have to have more miles to mov to the next level compared to non-French add. Overal, the benfits of the being Silver (Elite) in the program does not have much benefits.. just checking in Biz, priority boarding and I think about 5kg extra of luggage and I think 50% bonus miles. Other than that not many. Being a gold (Elite +) gives you lounge access and a few other perks, and of course being Platinum gives you more perks. Though these levels depend if you are registered as N.American/ European address.
So, there are lots of factors that you will need consider here.

My suggestion would be if you want to have a Skyteam FFP, the most beneficial one and with the most mileage earning ability is the one from Alitalia, where you earn a minimal 1200 miles. It is one of the most generous one left here on this side of the ocean. The rest are being very class restrictive in their mileage. Although one setback of Alitalia is that lots of people are not sure of their future.. but service wise, they are good and so far they have not dissapointed me.

I suggest that you look into the various forums for more info, eg. the adv and disadv of the Flying Blue program.

Hope this info helps.