Which *A program to join for a small number of flights

[brha01]

I will be doing some flying around the US/Canada in a couple of months. Where possible I have booked on AA or Alaskan flights for QF points but there are 4-5 flights (approx 6000 miles all up) where I have had to settle on United or Air Canada.

Does any have any recommendations for which *A program to join to get points for these flights? I know I wont earn enough to be able to redeem anything from these flights alone, but it is more to keep them there for any flying I might do on *A in the future (probably a few long hauls throughout the next couple of years although nothing set in stone yet)

Are there any programs which are more beneficial for having a smaller number of flights accruing points?

I have had a few thoughts:
- I have an existing TG account from a long haul trip a few years ago but I would assume all of my points in there would have expired by now
- Would NZ be more beneficial given the 'close to home' factor of being able to potentially redeem flights more easily?

Would appreciate your insights!

 

[pshepvic]

This is a good question. I'm a member of SQ, UA and AC and have accrued points on all three and then they have all expired as they have relatively short expiry periods (I don't fly with *A very often). My last lot of AC points I redeemed for a Macy's voucher and had it sent to friends in the US just to make sure I used the points!

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone says about this.