I've been searching all over flyertalk for info, and there is so much... almost too much.

I just had a flight from HKG-LAX-SLC with a return SLC-SEA-HKG purchased through Delta with a codeshare from Korean Air.

That trip alone got me ~15k miles on Delta SkyMiles, but with the reading I've been doing maybe SkyMiles wasn't the best choice.

In addition I have a United Milage Plus account with 8,500 miles that I got from a round trip ticket JFK-SFO-PEK but I didn't go back, so I only got half of the miles... United tells me that if I go back to PEK and want to fly to JFK
I can pay a small fee to have the ticket date changed, but I cannot change the itinerary.

I also took two flights on China Southern that I haven't redeemed for miles that I might be able to get something out of.

In December I've got a one-way multi-city from HKG-TPE*-NAR-HNL-SFO-DFW*-GUA-MIA*-JFK with a 7 day stay in each city (except for the ones with *... those are just short layovers). The first leg is Cathay Pacific, second and third legs are are All Nippon, the rest are on American.

I travel for leisure, in economy. I'm not interested in upgrades just free tickets (in economy).

What recommendations do you have for me? Is there a place I can go to get an overview of the pros/cons of different FF programs?

Thanks!

first, depending on where you are based, and what routes you fly more often...pick one airline to stick with (or at least figure out the alliance that you want to fly with)...for example, you could've earned some serious american airlines/asia/JMB miles if you were flying japan airlines instead of all nippon on those legs you mentioned, and purchased in the appropriate farecode

My advice is that when you compare programs, don't look at the mileage redemption requirements in isolation. Consider the total cost (miles + cash) of an award ticket from the program.

Imagine that you want to book a ticket on Delta SkyMiles (the industry's undisputed leader in innovative "gotcha" fees) to Puerto Rico two weeks from now on Continental Airlines. In addition to inflated mileage requirements, it's going to cost:

$75 for booking within 21 days of the flight
$25 for booking on a partner airline
$25 for booking over the phone (which you'll probably have to do since the web site is awful)
$50 fuel surcharge

That's $175 (!) just to get started, and heaven forbid you need to make any changes later to that "free" ticket.

On the other end of the spectrum, Southwest Airlines is honest and straightforward. Need a trans-continental award ticket a few hours from now? No last-minute booking fee, no telephone reservation fee, no fuel surcharge, and no change fees later on.

Know which kind of airline you're dealing with.

can you elaborate on that?

Also as it stands I have three FF accounts:

SkyMiles (SkyTeam): 15k
MileagePlus (StarAlliance): 8.5k
AAdvantage (OneWorld): 0

I already have the multi-city flight I mentioned before, which should credit my AAdvantage account sometime after the trip is over, but like you said the AllNippon flights aren't going to be credited. When I bought the ticket I wasn't collecting FF miles so I had no way of knowing.

I also two flights on China Southern to redeem and a one way trans-atlantic flight from AlItalia to redeem as well.

Another question: Am I eligible to earn miles for tickets that I buy for companion travelers, or can miles only be credited to the account of the traveler?

My home airport is JFK, but that really doesn't say much as I usually spend 6+ months per year out of the USA traveling around other regions.

Am I doing the right thing? What FF program would you recommend to me in each of the three Alliances? Do I really need one program from each alliance (ie can I earn Mileage Plus points when flying Delta)?

1) You can credit the ANA flights to MP.

2) You cannot earn miles in your FF account on tickets that others fly.

3) I have UA MP, CO OP, AA, and BMI. That's one carrier in each alliance (except I have two *A carriers). UA is my main program as I am a *A flyer. CO will ultimately become a *A airline in the future which will leave me without a skyteam account but I am not crying over it. I've never actually flown on a skyteam carrier. I use BMI as a collection account for double dipping from Hilton, car rental promos, etc. BMI is very valuable!

4) No, you cannot credit DL flights to MP. You can only credit flights to other carriers within the alliance. Also, be careful when crediting to other carriers than the flown one because not all carriers give 100% mileage in all fare buckets.

Welcome to FT!

Halothane

I would recommend signing up for the AA elite challenge before you take your December trip. Depending on the fare class, you could achieve AA Gold or Plat and begin earning between a 25% - 100% mileage bonus.