Originally Posted by sllevin

I don't think you can earn a lot of mileage on the leg into DXB; so the trick is, what would get you closest with the most miles earned?

I'd argue that the best option might be to fly DL to IST. You'd earn full mileage that far and only lose out on the ~1800 miles IST-DXB.

Other options would be to fly AA to FRA, and then fly someone else FRA-DXB.

BA and CX won't earn you near the miles in coach, unless I misunderstand the rules entirely.

Steve