I'm in a worse situation as i'm based here in Dubai full time. I use to fly primarily to europe before but migrated from Lufthansa to Qatar Airways in late 2015 since my travel destinations went from 100% europe to 25% US, 25% Asia and 50% Europe. I'm currently gold on Qatar Airways and was running up to Platinum early august.
That's obviously not gonna happen anymore so I've got several options on the table:
1) Stick to the one world alliance with British Airways but I'd be facing some below gulf standard in Economy and business plus having to fork out a hefty premium on all european routes from here with them. On the plus side I have Sri lankan and Cathay to look back when flying to Asia.
2) Biting the bullet and chosing one of the big brothers here. I've compiled the ticket prices from all big 3 carriers since late 2015 and Qatar has come on top in terms of pricing with Emirates second and Etihad a lonely third. The gap in pricing between QR and EK is across 18 month nearly 30% higher !
Now I understand the premium direct flights should have but that's not a small price difference.
I'm currently on the fence and wanted to ask you guys when is Emirates normally running its special fare period during the year? (qatar was in Jan).
Thanks.