Brand new to all of this and my goal is to be an experienced FF by this time next year so I need your help.
1. Currently the only travel I do is vacation flying and only doing that 3x year(want to do more).
2. Will be traveling from CMI-ORD-SJU in April on AA. Live in a college town about 2-3 hours by car from major airport ORD, IND
3. I have decided to try to concentrate miles on AA and have even started collecting Kelloggs and Healthy Choice.
4. Got Travelocity CC and thinking about AA cuz they will give me free companion cert plus tranfer miles plus 2k.
5. Have spent hours everyday for the past 2 weeks reading all of the posts and feel like I know you all.
Thinking about a mileage run for fun but kinda scared. Am I doing everything ??

Gooch:

The best way to become an experienced FFer (and basically the only way to earn elite status) is, well, to fly a lot! But there's a difference between flying a lot and racking up as many free miles as quickly as you can. I know someone who flew to Europe this summer almost exclusively on miles earned with a United Visa card. If it's miles you want most, there are lots of bonuses out there for signing up with credit cards, long distance, etc. that can really boost a fledgling FF account. If you're looking for elite status or whatever, my best advice is to just get up in the air and keep your eyes open. Plenty of double miles specials out there now.

It would also help if you made the title of this thread more descriptive.

Gooch, welcome to FlyerTalk...

Two sites you should visit (if you haven't already) to help maximize your mileage earning oppprtunities are:
www.webflyer.com
www.mileageworkshop.com

You will also need to spend lots of time here.

Welcome Gooch!

Shadow's recommendations are right on. Specifically, think about getting a Citbank card and opening a TD Waterhouse account. Also, in the future if you have questions specific to AA, you may want to post the question in the AA forum - you might get more help with your question.

Completely off the subject, I lived in Champaign about 20 years ago. I miss Garcia's pizza: good deep dish pizza sold by the slice through a drive-thru window. What a great concept!

I appreciate everyones comments so far and I hope I do a better job with my postings especially my subject heading. I would have to say I want both miles and fly time and of course to do it with the best deal around. (My cake and eat it too) Thanks for the heads up on the other websites.

Welcome aboard, Gooch! Spend lots of time (as in hours) reading this board and you'll be a pro in no time.

There are some other fabulous resources out there, but IMHO, Flyertalk is probably the best single one. Like anything else, you'll get out of it what you put into it.

Be sure to ask some questions, and answer some question. Spend lots of time reading and some time posting. Request a coupon in the Coupon Connection and give away some coupons.

I hope you find your FT time fun and profitable.

Hey! I lived in Champaign also...one of the things I miss is Garcia's Pizza!! I love all the spices they have for you to put on the pizza!

Totally off subject but following the Garcias pizza comments. If you come back to Champaign to visit you will also find Garcias in one of the local movie theaters. Great pizza!