I've always felt that AY was the red-headed stepchild of the alliance, sorely under-appreciated for connecting flights -- especially to Eastern Europe (it's only a little farther than Heathrow) or on to Asia. JFK-HKG (for example) is only about 1,000 miles more than JFK-HEL-HKG, and I kind of like splitting up that flight -- not the mention the fact that JFK-HKG on CX is often significantly more expensive than JFK-LAX/SFO-HKG (which is even longer).