Transportation options-frequent flyer miles

Most airlines, even those on which I flew in Mexico, have frequent flyer programs.  The mechanics of this program are that you earn miles by flying on the airline.  You can then use those miles to pay for future trips on that airline or one of its partners.  These programs generally have no costs. All you need to do is register with the airline.  My sisters flew for years on these programs  and I finally jumped on the bandwagon about 6 years ago.
 The problem is that it takes forever to accumulate enough miles using this method, especially if you always base your travel on buying a ticket for the cheapest airline of the day.  In fact, I never did receive any reward vouchers.
How to earn as many miles as possible:
1.  Read every piece of information concerning the FF program.  Rewards can be earned not only by flying, but by making purchases from program partners.  My sis and my brother in law take a vacation every year to the same spot.  Their FF program has a partnership with a restaurant on the driving route.  They have to eat somewhere, why not there!  If you are issued a frequent flyer card, present it at every point of purchase.  You never know when a new partner has been added.
1b.Take the round a bout way.  As I said, you earn miles by flying.  If you fly 2000 miles you earn 2000 miles.  My sis and bro in law take advantage of this by choosing the flight with the longest route to their destination, thus earning the largest amount of miles possible.   Warning:  Some airlines have changed this aspect of their program.  For example, Delta earned miles are now based on ticket price, not miles flown.
2.  Apply for an airline credit card.  There are many, many types of cards offered by each airline.  Some have fees, some are fee free for one year, etc.  But, what they all have is bonus miles which you receive just for joining and\or spending a minimum amount of money in a certain period of time.  Most will also give bonus points for flight purchases.
2a.  Most credit cards have added benefits. Here are some added benefits associated with my card:
priority boarding
discounts for on board menu items
free checked bag for all the people in my party
free companion ticket after one year of membership
As you can see, any fees associated with my credit card are gained back through these rewards.  When you have an airline credit card, you are treated better.  Recently on a trip back from Hawaii, I was upgraded to business class just by asking.   Also, one of my bags was retrieved with grease stains.  I complained to the airline and they paid for me to buy a new bag.

In my current situation, my FF miles saved me because if I had to pay $1000s of dollars, I would not be taking this trip at all.