One more datapoint. My experience flying the ticket was similar to one of the earlier reports. My routing was CMB-AUH-JFK-DFW and overall everything during the flights was excellent, but my experiences at the airports were unpleasant.
Check-in
Because I read about several other reports before flying, I decided to arrive at CMB early. Got to the Business Class check-in counter at exactly 5:30pm and things began to go wrong shortly. The agent told me a manager was needed as the ticket had a "no-go" status (surprisingly...). The manager came and told me I might not be able to fly. He asked for my credit card (I booked with an OTA). After several phone calls, he told me that he's letting me fly as a courtesy, because the fare was too low. (Sounds quite familiar, doesn't it?) Then he mentioned that I would not receive any of the amenities: no lounge, no limo, no changes permitted. After another 30 mins of back and forth conversations, he still refused to provide me with a lounge pass. I asked him to show me a memo or something in writing, or provide me with a written explanation of not providing me with the amenities, he declined and said he had to serve other customers too. So I ended up not getting lounge access at CMB. By the time I got my boarding passes, it was around 7:30pm.
CMB-AUH
I flew on EY metal, served by an A320 with 4 rows of J class seats. The cabin seemed reasonably new, but I knew it was probably older than it seemed. Although the seats were recliners, they were quite comfortable and the food and wine were really good. A little over 4 hours of flight time, arrived in AUH and got on the First/Business shuttle, only served the J pax and left before Y pax deplaned.
@AUH
As my experience at CMB wasn't all that smooth, I anticipated some hurdles at AUH as well. After getting into the main terminal, I got caught up in security. The priority line was not staffed, so I ended up waiting in the main queue. Took nearly 30 mins to get through security. Afterwards, I went straight to the First Class lounge, which was right after transit security. I showed my BP and got in without any issues. The lounge was not big, but had a spa and a cigar bar. Food was a la carte, so it was like eating at a restaurant. Food was mediocre but wine selection was good. Didn't spend too much time there. As I flew EY103, it didn't qualify for pre-clearance at AUH. One thing to note is that there is a huge arrow indicating pax flying to the US (JFK, IAD, ORD) to head towards one direction. That was misleading because it wasn't the case for EY103, the gate was in the other direction. More security and finally I was able to board.
AUH-JFK
I haven't flown F on EY before, so I couldn't really compare the wet-leased 9W 77W with EY's own. The plane had 9W livery and for a moment I thought I went to the wrong gate (wet-lease didn't come to mind then apparently). I was kinda surprised to see 9W crew welcoming me in the yellow uniform, as previous reports mentioned EY crew serving the flight. There were 8 suites total in 2 rows, all were occupied. F cabin had 3 crew members, one from 9W, two from EY (one of them was the chef). The suites were a little dated, but quite well maintained. All amenities were from EY and I was not treated differently during the flight. Lots of choices for food and beverages, and the bed was comfortable. There were some sizing issues with the duvet and cover, mostly due to 9W suite's bed size didn't match that of EY's. IFE was also EY's, but didn't really impress me. In flight map didn't work, several F pax complained, but nothing was done (I'm sure now everyone wants to know where the plane is going).
@JFK
Landed at JFK on-time in T4. Cleared immigration with ease, apparently the EK flight didn't arrive with my flight. I took the advice to check EY's transfer desk first before going to T8 for AA's JFK-DFW. Agent saw "no-go" status on the ticket and called ticketing upstairs. Issue fixed only for JFK-DFW, but not DFW-CMB. Was told by a manager that I have to contact EY customer service.
As I don't fly OW often, had no access to the Admiral Club (EY and AA doesn't have lounge agreement) and the layover was 6 hours. Ended up going to a hotel and took a nap.
Since I bought this ticket, I've not been contacted by OTA or EY regarding downgrades or no-go status. So I didn't file with DOT. It seems like the folks who did file got lounge access at CMB, limo and etc. So I don't know whether EY put those who filed with DOT into a different pool. I'll try to make some date changes now given that I've flown the outbound. We'll see what happens. Hope my experience helps those that will fly on this ticket soon.