Thanks for the help bhomburg! I definitely plan to wait for AA clarification before I make a final decision, but the feedback is appreciated.

Sri Lankan is an interesting alternative I hadn't thought of, they also run a BKK-HKG service that might make them worthwhile, it's not nearly as convenient as Cathay, but the business class is almost the same price as Cathay's economy typically. Not flying to the US is a downer though as a huge chunk of my miles come from those flights, but I might still be able to put 30k miles on them via India, Europe, and Hong Kong flights.

I noticed you mentioned AY's program to someone else, I've never flown with them so I can't evaluate their hard product, but I've noticed they also fly nicely priced business class flights to europe and jfk from BKK. I assume it's not as nice a product as QR's business, but from a quick bit of research it would be easier to qualify for emerald with them based on my flight patterns. Plus at least for now they offer full points (km based instead of miles) for all classes of AA economy for any domestic US connecting flights I might take. Any overall opinions or impressions on AY both as an airline and a ffp? Thanks again!