I've bought a few calls and puts on stocks, but that is all. 1. It seems to me that, ignoring the extra leverage gained, the advantage of options is that psychologically they encourage a longer hold time than buying/selling the underlying. You pay for this, however, by paying a premium over taking a position with the underlying. Is this a fair assessment? 2. Roughly how much premium are we talking about in the liquid (say top 100) optionable stocks? 3. How about options on futures, how much premium as against buying or selling the future? What advantages and disadvantages.
I can only speak to point #1...it totally depends on the type of trader/invester you are. I hold stock positions months to years and my option positions are a month/few months so there is no psychological push/pull to hold options longer.
#2 & 3 are too broad to answer. The premium depends on the strike price, underlying price, time to expiry and volatility.