Welcome to FT, ralph56!

The easy answer is there really are no shortcuts to learning all the tricks of the FF trade. You have to be willing to invest your time online to reading past posts in this forum and others of interest to pick up the lingo, ways to spots deals, etc.

I'd start by identifying which airline or airlines serve your home city or region well, what your earning goals are (upgrades or hoarding miles for reward trips), and how much you are willing to spend to achieve some of those goals. And once you done that, follow you areas of interest.

Most of the FT experts are willing to share information with a "newbie", as we were all new at one time or another. Enjoy FT!