Hi Roger & Pat, welcome to AFF. I would have thought you would need to be a member of the frequent flyer program before your flights for them to count toward any rewards (including lounge access).
You should also check on the class that your recent trip was booked under - deep discount flights may not earn any miles/points. To quote the
SQ Krisflyer site:
Quote:
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Most booking fares are eligible for accrual of KrisFlyer miles. However, Economy Class tickets issued in V, Q, G, N or T booking classes on Singapore Airlines and V, Q, G, N, T, W or L booking classes on SilkAir are ineligible for mileage accrual. Please check with your travel agent or the relevant airline before making a reservation to determine the eligibility of your booking fare for mileage accrual.
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The Krisflyer site also talks about presenting your krisflyer card at check-in and making the booking in the same name as your krisflyer acount - all of which suggests to me that you will have little chance of redeeming miles flown prior to becoming a member. I am no expert, but I would imagine
Air NZ,
United,
Thai etc would have similar restrictions in place. If I were you, I would contact the airline you flew most of your miles with in your AWT as they would be most likely to credit you with points/miles earned prior to membership.
Past flights aside - I guess the best club to join will depend on where you intend to fly and with whom in the future. Certainly going with a Star Alliance or One World partner program will give you the most choice worldwide, but if most of your flights are going to be on Emirates and only the occasional QF or NZ flight, then Emirates might be the better way to go... it';s all about maximising your miles/points earning capacity so that you can maximise the rewards.