In another thread in the AA forum a few people mentioned that you can get Emerald status on a few airlines by flying a much lower number of miles in F/J.

On which program is it easiest to earn status from F/J travel?

Plat challenge on AA

But you still need to fly 100K status miles within a year ie by 31 Dec 2006 to get Emerald on AAdvantage.

Qantas is pretty easy to earn Plat status with F, with their Status Credit earning table,
you could need as little as 12000 miles (10 flights of ~1200 miles in First) to earn Plat status.

Is it really easier than BA gold?

It probably depends on country of residence. I'd say that the BA 800 tier points for non-UK residents is the easiest there is for F/J travellers. Two round trips in first + a connection or three in J + a short haul and you're there.

/hv

But the burn rate for QF rewards are very high compared to AA.

Also need to consider what emerald does for you. AA Plat (sapphire) get 100% bonus miles but you need to be QF Plat (emerald) to get 100% bonus. QF Gold (sapphire) only get 50% bonus. All emerald's are not equal.

Generally the airline you fly the most is best, as the airlines own high status ffer's will be first on list for upgrades & rewards flights.

Although this might be true on a general level, I have also heard some airlines to enforce fare code checks in the event of necessary op ups as well...this is just to say that it's not all about status in all cases...

Depends on the class and itinerary.

Earning enough BA tier points or QF sector credits for Emerald can be easier if you take a fair number of long-haul flights in F (or A). On AA, J (D) and F (A) earn the same EQM and qualifying points as each other, so on a J-class (D) itinerary you can make Emerald (AA EXP) with the same number of BIS miles as someone sitting in first class. Whether or not you would make Emerald on the same itinerary with other airlines would depend entirely on the itinerary.

For example on a DONE3 RTW, it's very hard (almost impossible AFAIK) to make EXP without counting positioning flights (i.e. flights to/from the RTW start point) or non-RTW open-jaw connectors, etc. On BA a DONE3 might make Gold (especially if you're creative in N. America where DONExs book into A, with A tier points) but it might be a stretch; can't speak for QF.

Certainly I think the bonus/status miles on AA are more generous than the others.