AA or AF
 

Ok, so here's the deal. My mom (who pays, alas, very little attention to the finer points of frequent flyer programs) will be doing a good deal of travel this upcoming year. She lives in Boston. At least two trips to Paris, perhaps three. One trip to Hawaii. Then perhaps a trip to Australia. She is an academic and so can only fly the lowest available fares.

Overall her travel should run at least 25K and perhaps over 50K depending on the Australia trip. She used to be gold on AA for several years and recently she has been the low level on AF.

Any suggestions of which program might be best for her?

I would go with AA, especially since they are somewhat more generous than AF when it comes to mileage accrual on the cheapest fares.

if you suggest aa, be sure to educate her on the problems w/ q & o fares....

good luck.

edit to add....also gld & plt challenges..