I very recently booked a flight to Australia for the Christmas/New Year. Only Side Step was able to tell me that I would save $400 by flying Miami/London/Perth instead of Miami/LAX/Perth. Even the Qantas web site warns people that American Airlines may not give them miles on the Qantas flight. I will be flying on British Airways from Miami to London and Qantas to Australia. I'm planning on getting miles with British Air's Executive Club on the Qantas portion. Am I correct?

A few points:

- I think it's way too early too book tickets for Dec. The airlines will not release the cheaper tickets this far out.

- Whether you can earn miles on a partner airline's FF program, and how much you can earn, depends on the fare class you're getting. Always check the fare class when you buy tickets. Also, one cannot earn AAdvantage miles on BA flight between the US and the UK. [Okay Canada-UK.]

Go to AA's website to find out which BA/QF flights you can earn AA miles. And you do know that BA gives only 25% miles on most discount economy fares.

For example, you can earn 100% AA miles when flying B, Y, H or K class on QF, but only 50% when flying MVLGNOS.

- MIA-LHR-SIN-PER is a really long way to fly. It's 13,610 miles, compared to MIA-LAX-SYD-PER at 11,870.

Well I wouldn't actually expect to see much in the way of bargains for Australia at Christmas - peak of summer holidays, etc.

And, if you're flying in discount economy, you can't join BA's FF plan at all, so no miles transatlantic on AA, and no BA miles at all. Major bummer.

I don't know what sort of price range you're seeing, but it sounds to me like you might consider a round-the-world ticket instead of point-to-point. It might be more, but with it you'd get lots more flying in over the course of a year. Visit http://www.oneworld.com for a start, then if you're interested, look at the "Global Alliances" message boards at www.flyertalk.com for lots more advice.

You might also look at JFK-SYD-PER on Qantas (stops in LA but no change of planes to Sydney.) You could probably get to NY for a reasonable price to start the trip.

You should also have a look at the cost of Circle Pacific tickets; these might be less expensive than RTWs. In addition to looking at the Oneworld and Star Alliance websites, do some research on the Oneworld and Star Alliance discussion forums at Flyertalk.com. There are a lot of knowledgeable people who seem to make a hobby out of RTWs and similar trips.

What are the flight time differences between your routes?

Via London from Miami seems a long way round to me.

Although UK based, i'm a member of Qantas frequent flyer program and am able to collect points on most BA flights even when i'm flying on super discounted tickets in Economy.

I checked two different flight times, one each way. The total time difference (air and connection time) was only 1 3/4 hours more going London. Flying from Miami to London means free drinks in coach (BA) and access to a shower at the Heathrow airport (extra). Thanks for the comment about the miles. I was getting worried.