Newbie : Looking for suggestions for FF program
 

With my new job i will be flying a bit and looking for some suggestions on which airlines to choose for my travel. Below are the details.

SFO to MAA/HYD - 6 to 7 trips per year
and while in india travel between BLR,HYD and MAA
SFO to DFW/ORD - 4 to 5 trips per year

I Currently have SPG Amex and membership in asiamiles and US airways. No status in any of the airlines.

Goals : upgrades, lounge access and vacation travel with family.

Thanks in advance for you suggestions.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

In what class of service will you be traveling on your paid trips, and on your award trips?

My paid trips will be in Economy / premium economy. I want to use points to get upgrades.
Award travel will be in economy or business based on the miles i accrue.

As a person who makes 5-6 Transatlantic trips a year by myself, I would suggest that you choose whatever airline is the best for you irrespective of the miles (i.e. schedule, prices, types of planes on the route etc.) and only once this decision is made, choose the frequent flyer program that works best with your flights.

Going the other way around (choosing a frequent flyer program and then choosing flights that are eligible for whatever you're trying to achieve in this FFP) in my personal experience creates much more inconvenience than gives you additional value in terms of miles.

Just my opinion though.

I'd consider Cathay and credit to AA or Thai/United/SQ and credit to united or Us Air. United is probably better value and easier to redeem though US Air miles have been historically easier to collect.

Thanks for your suggestions..