Agree with everything Joe said.

I find all the ins-and-outs of it a bit confusing as well, but Mr Daisy is by way of being something of an expert. We are also leisure travellers rather than business people.

I think you first have to decide what airline you are most likely to fly on, taking into consideration the two partnerships that have evolved in the airline industry. For us initially, it was Air Canada which is part of Star Alliance (along with Singapore and ANZ) but thats in a state of flux right now, and according to him-indoors we are switching to British Airways and One World.

We also accumulate "miles" or points or whatever with a dedicated Credit Card. That does not apply towards status within a loyalty plan but it does give you miles to use. If that makes sense?

As Joe says. No harm done to sign up with any and see what happens.

I also belong to more than one Hotel points system and they can be converted to air miles in most cases as well....SPG and Hilton for sure.

One issue to bear in mind is that the vast majority of Frequent Flyer programmes come with conditions attached to the effect that miles expire if not spent within a certain time period (i.e 2 or 3 years). This will obviously present a problem for those who don't fly all that often; as the older miles expire, you could find yourself never quite having enough to do anything useful with.

So it's worth investigating whether the programme you join offers anyway around this. As an example, I am a member of Miles & More (for Lufthansa, amongst others) and hold the programme-associated credit card purely to ensure that, once earnt, the miles stay in my account. Not ideal for everyone but works for me.

In short, read the 'How it Works' section of the relevant programme and plan accordingly!

I have "Miles and More". I have found out that I can redeem my miles only for the net cost of a flight itself. And I still have to pay airport taxes and other charges, which make the bigger part of the total price. So you don't get a free flight for your miles.

The best use of FF miles is a business class seat to a long-haul destination.

Last year we flew to Sydney, via Singapore (in Business almost all the way) and back for something like $200 each. A bargain in anyones world.

Even an economy seat, from say Calgary to London, will usually cost me about $1500. If I use Miles I pay maybe $300 in taxes etc. Not free...but still not $1500.

You just have to a) rack up the miles in one way or another b) no how to work the system properly and c) not expect much to be actually FREE!

As joe said in his reply, do join the FF program since it is free. Then look at the partner airlines that are associated with yours--Singapore Airlines is in the Star Alliance which includes carriers all around the world. In the future, if fares and schedules are close, book travel with airlines in the alliance to accrue miles. Join the FF program for any airline you fly if it's free; you never know where future travels might take you.

Two things to check. First, check on whether the miles expire after a certain time with no activity in the account. Second, be aware that, when you book, there may be restrictions on how many or even if any miles are given based on your fare category. For example, a couple of years ago we flew on Air New Zealand from Melbourne to Christchurch and then to Sydney. We earned miles on one leg, but the other was ineligible for miles for a couple of reasons. That was clearly stated online when we booked, so no unpleasant surprises.

Frequent Flyer points mean two things to me. 1. I accumulate frequent flyer miles, which I can use to obtain "award" flight. My daughter and her family decided to visit us in three weeks. I was able, just a week ago to find three award tickets for her, her husband and our grandson for a total of 75,000 frequent flyer miles. They had to pay less than $40 in taxes. 2. If I earn enough frequent flyer miles in one year I gain "status" with my specific airline. This provides some advantages. Based on the degree of status one has, a passenger can be up-graded to First Class, if there are seats available. We get a special dedicated customer service telephone number, and skilled customer service representatives who can quickly resolve almost any problem. We are allowed to board before other passengers in economy seating. We can upgrade our seats from economy to economy comfort at no charge for domestic travel, and a reduced charge for international travel. We can check two bags for each of us at no cost.

Both of these elements are important enough to me to keep me loyal to one specific airline. We registerd with our airline about 20 years ago. We did not fly very often for the first ten years. Since then we have increased the miles that we fly. The miles add up. Our original goal was to collect enough miles to take a trip around the world. We have long since passed that goal. Even after just obtaining 75,000 for our daughter, we still have over 750,000 frequent flyer miles......enough to go around the world in business class, which is what we will do next year to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.

It costs nothing to sign up. Our miles never expire. There is no reason not to join a frequent flyer program. Our oldest daughter flies often for business. With every trip she makes to China she earns enough points for a domestic flight anywhere in the continental US.

I am a member of the Qantas frequent flyer program which is part of the One World alliance along with BA and Cathay Pacific. So I earn miles flying all of these airlnes, but not the same number of miles. Assuming I fly economy with all of these, I earn 1 point per mile if I fly Qantas, 0.5 points per mile if I fly Cathay and 0.25 points per mile if I fly BA. So for London to Sydney this is about 20000 on Qantas, 10000 on Cathay and 5000 on BA. I don't know if other programmes have similar conditions but I would not be surprised if they do. You need to research these conditions, but bear in mind that they are changing all the time.

Since you are already on Singapore, it would make sense to join either their program or an allied programme, and then continue flying only airlines in that alliance. Remember that the whole point of the programmes is customer loyalty.

Thanks all. I hadn't thought about uses other than upgrades.

Besides gaining minimal points from flying you may earn significant points from managing credit cards, enough for a long haul business class award annually. You can accumulate points by collecting bonus offers for opening & managing a number of credit cards and then churning them at the end of the "contracted period" to repeat the cycle, and avoid annual fees. You also get additional miles/avios from money spent on the cards. The credit limits should be for the minimum allowed. Balances should be paid off monthly so there is no interest charged.

For example:

"British Airways Visa Signature Card

Current offer: 50,000 Avios after spending $2,000 within three months

Annual fee: $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 thereafter.

For full details see: http://boardingarea.com/onemileatatime/2013/08/19/10-best-credit-card-sign-up-bonuses-for-august/

Further: Some debit/credit cards are are "totally fee free" including no foreign exchange commissions, and credit cards can be pre loaded to avoid any cash advance charges.