Febian, welcome to FlyerTalk. As your questions are really about collecting miles and strategy to maximize miles earning, please follow the discussion as the thread moves to the MilesBuzz Forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

You should consider coming to the Seminars linked in my signature.

Hmm, seems like you posted this question in a wrong section of this blog and that's why some of the advice you see here is a bit strange to me.

I would NOT only look to collect miles with one airline (partner alliance). Don't put all your eggs into one basket.

Wait for great credit cards with big bonuses and apply. Be careful of the initial spend you need to do. Don't get overwhelmed.

Follow some great blogs such as;

http://thepointsguy.com
http://www.freefrequentflyermiles.com/index.htm
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/
http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/
http://milecards.com/1031/top-bonus-...-credit-cards/
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mommypoints/

Right now .... good card deals are taking a break it seems. I see value in the two AA Citi credit cards available now that many people already mentioned.

Also there is AMEX Gold personal and AMEX Gold business. One gives you 75K points and business has a code for 100K.

Chase Saphire also gives 50K points.

Amex SPG 30K points means 35K if transferred to airline. Or use it for hotels

So in 2-3 months from now you could have

150K AA miles
175K AMEX Points
50K Chase points
30K SPG points

100K gets you a round trip in business class to Europe.

Just look out for good Credit Card bonuses.
good luck.

P.S. As an inspiration for you .... I joined this forum in April of this year. Already collected 980K miles/points. You did miss some good offers that were available like British Airways 100K and Continental 50K.

Here is the best way for a serious newbie to begin:

• Spend a couple of hours reading all of my website below. Start with the How to Begin page.
• Subscribe to the service on my What's New page to get an email whenever I put something new on that page.
• Regularly read the blogs previously mentioned, and selected pages on flyertalk, to find out how to best use the offers out there. I list them with occasional comment; they tell you what to do with them.

Caution: This can become very addictive.

Welcome to Flyertalk.

Hello and welcome,
From the way it sounds, your parents are flying you back home and fitting the bill. One of the overlooked areas of building up your miles is to be sure they are listing your AA account on the booking. You've already signed up for that by now correct? Being homesick is going to be a nice miles account builder ;) in addition to spending time with family of course.

Keep your current credit card accounts open even if they do not get any action, it helps your credit overall with a list of long term positive credit. When I paid off all my debt and decided to close accounts, it hurt my credit, not helped. Prior to the fico terms ychange, my credit score was like 832 out of 850 at one time. Though my debt was paid included mortgages, not having the open lines of revolving credit dented my higher score. Without annual fees, leave them open.

Max up on AA for now. Good luck and all the best. Remember even if you disagree with your parents, those matters are best discussed in person why you fly out to see them ;).

Kidding, and all the best to you.

Keeping you oldest cards (especially no annual fee) is very important. It will help increase your average age of credit which is component of your credit score. Even if you don't plan on using the cards, just put them away in the drawer.

frugaltravelguy has a few really good articles on credit cards in his blog archives (can be referenced via his top deals link) and for someone starting out his handbook is also worth a read!