Do you prefer to book your program flights through Road Scholar or on your own?
I booked my first RS trip, an international one, and used their travel service. I was very impressed by their speed of response, cost, and connections offered with adequate times allowed for transfers. Their flight price was about $400 less than what I had found on my own and included airport transfers. As far as accruing FFmiles save your boarding passes and if you are using "partner" airlines and they are not credited it is easy to do after you get home.