Originally Posted by Viajero
I'm totally new to this, so going on what I've read here so far I thought I'd credit them to AA. I looked at IB and didn't like their programme at all. Should I reconsider?
You have done both MAD and CAI. If you were to do a xONEx one right now, where would you start it from? (based purely on total, all in, after tax prices)
AA's programme is a good choice. I would not reconsider as Iberia Plus really doesn't add as much value for miles compared to AA, especially if the majority of your flight activity is not going to be on IB.
Decisions, decisions! If you have not yet been to Egypt, then I would certainly start the DONE4 from CAI, and spend a few days sightseeing. There are many threads here on FT that describe some of the main highlights. Another option to consider (but not as interesting) is what some FT'ers have done: arrive at night, never leave the airport, and "turnaround" in the morning to start their RTW journey. However, the CAI airport is not exactly the kind of place that I would want to spend my sleeping hours!
I don't recall if your DONE4 is for business or pleasure but you may find that it is simply a lot less of a hassle to just start in MAD and go westbound across the Atlantic. This allows you to keep the option of maximising your miles at the very end of your trip. There are some longish segments in the "Europe-Middle East" continent such as LHR-DXB-LHR-HEL-MAD.
That was my exact routing when I started a DONE4 from MAD 3 years ago.