One thing I'd also look at is not just the frequency of your longhaul travel but also its predictability. And is travel to Asia (the subject of this thread) a regular part of your pattern, or just a one-off?

Reason being, the combination of longhaul and domestic US travel might lend itself to use of an RTW product in some cases. You probably couldn't use RTWs for all your travel (since the rules require you to keep going in an overall easterly/westerly direction over the Atlantic and Pacific with no transoceanic "doubling back,") but a premium-class RTW might help you accumulate enough EQPs to requalify for EXP, with maybe even some spare room to accumulate Avios for occasional MFUs.

With the RTWs (thinking Oneworld Explorer, continent-based) you are allowed so many "free" (well, not really ) segments in each continent touched, with the ability to buy up to two additional segments in continents other than the originating one. You're allowed four segments in all continents except North America, which allows six, but only one transcon nonstop in NA. If you originated in Europe (which includes the Middle East, currently the cheapest Northern Hemisphere starting area) you could buy two extra segments in NA and give up two in Asia (maximum no. is 16 including intra- and intercontinental flights) which might really help your NA travel needs.

The tickets are good for a year and date/flight changes are free ($125 to change the routing) so I could see a scenario where, say, you start an RTW in the Middle East, use it for a couple of European trips (4 segments, two stopovers max) then use it to fly to the USA and do your NA travel (6-8 segments, no stopover limit.)

Then if you want you can fly to Asia and return to the origin point, case closed. Or, if you don't need to go to Asia then, just buy a separate NA - Europe round trip and put the RTW on hold (in NA) until you get back and can use it to return to Europe via Asia (you have a year.) Hope this makes sense - you'd be mixing and matching the RTW flights with conventional ones.

At the moment a 3-continent business class ticket bought and begun in Egypt, Israel or Jordan is right around US$6000 plus taxes and fuel baksheesh, so that works out to around $375+ per business class segment (books into A on US two-class domestic flights) which will all earn 1.5 EQP per mile flown, not to mention a lot more comfortable than the back of the bus. You can see the FAQs and all back on the Oneworld board where you began.

Doing this might help you achieve and maintain status while flying more comfortably and quite possibly for less money (annualized) overall. It would need some planning and number crunching, but it's not a huge task.

Anyway, I just thought I'd throw that out.

Edited to add: Doh. Sorry to the OP - comment was aimed at Microwave. I got the HKG bit from the OP commingled with Microwave's issues - never mentioned Asia at all, so something of a case of apples and footballs.