Cross-posting from the general Which FFP to Join thread, since I figure the posters here will have much more experience in the Middle East and Abu Dhabi specifically...
I am moving from the U.S. to Abu Dhabi for work and will be traveling significantly more than I do now (for both work and leisure). I'd love to get advice from forum members on what plan(s) to join and how to make the most of my travel. I will fly mostly business on EY for work about 2-3x a year (AUH-JFK-AUH). The rest will be leisure travel all over the place, primarily in economy if/when I am paying for it myself. Here's my information:
1. What is most important to you in a frequent flyer program (FFP)?
Opportunities for complimentary or relatively low-cost upgrades to business (for sleeping) or economy-plus (for leg room); priority services (reduced waiting time in lines); award redemption; lounge access on long layovers.
2. How many miles do you usually fly each year? How many flights/sectors?
This is a guess, but I imagine about 50,000 to 80,000 miles/year on about 20 to 30 segments. Roughly half in business (EY), half in economy (any).
3. What fare class do you usually buy?
Economy for personal, business for work.
4. Are you able to choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
For work, I will be on EY. For pleasure, I can choose.
5. Which routes do you fly most often?
AUH-JFK for work, plus AUH-X-DTW for the holidays on my own dime. For pleasure, I plan to hit a variety of destinations all over Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and to a lesser extent Africa over the next few years.
6. What is your home airport?
AUH
7. Do you have status in any FFP? What is it? How miles do you have banked in a FFP, if any?
No current status. I have about 75,000 in AA and about 25,000 in DL and EY.
8. What are your preferred airlines, if any?
No strong preferred airline, but I highly value leg room, competitive prices, easy connections and boarding/security procedures, and, when possible, the ability to get into business class and lie down to sleep on long flights.
I have done some initial research, and the dilemma I seem to be facing is that while I will be earning lots of miles and status on EY for work, EY has a relatively small set of destinations in Europe and Asia, and its economy prices are generally not competitive outside of the Middle East. OneWorld/QR seems to be much better suited for long-distance destinations - except for Europe - though it would require often connecting in DOH, a short hop from AUH. For Europe from AUH, SkyTeam/KL seems the best. (Star Alliance/TK also has a lot of options, but the daily TK AUH-IST flight will soon depart at 3:40 a.m., which is the worst time I can think of.) So I feel like there's no obvious good choice here, but I hope the experts here can point me toward a strategy I am missing as a relative newbie...
Thanks in advance for your advice!