Need Strategy Advice
 

I'm trying to choose the best strategy for my situation.
I work overseas mostly, Asia, South America & Europe so far.
Also my wife is Korean, so we travel there about twice a year.
And as I'm self employed, the cost of all travel comes out of my pocket, so I always buy the least expensive tickets that have reasonable itineraries.

My current strategy is to use Asiana FF just enough to maintain diamond which will give me star gold.
And use Korean Air FF just enough to maintain morning calm which gives me skyteam elite
(there are some useful perks for both these FF in Korea as well)
But I'm not sure I want to dump all my remaining skyteam miles into KE for the next 8 years or so to achieve morning calm premium and elite plus
So I'm torn between Delta and Continental for the remaining skyteam miles

I use the AmEx Delta Plat because I get about double miles due to the promotions and 10k EQM bonus and could easily get DA silver each year.
If I saved some pricer items for the card and a couple long trips for every other January, perhaps I could reach and have gold almost continually (100% mileage bonus, etc.)
But that is a lot of effort to still not be elite plus (is elite plus all that?)

Alternately I could probably get Continental silver each year (50% mileage bonus, extra luggage allowance, etc)
And just use the AmEx Delta Plat for miles for tickets.

Last year I flew about 40k in cheap coach and charged about 35k on my cards

I have considered AF or KLM with a residence in Korea, but even though 40k would get me gold and elite plus, I think 40k every other January & February would be a stretch - much less every year while maintaining my Asiana diamond and KE morning calm.

By the way, I only use miles for vacation tickets usually from overseas back to the states - these tend to be more expensive than domestic or those originating in the states.

Any thoughts and comments would be appreciated.

You're in a tough spot trying to go for double elite with only 40K BIS travel annually. Elite Plus gets you lounge access on Int'l itineraries, which sounds like it is the main benefit you'd achieve. You would also get more RDMs because of the higher bonus percentage there. I don't about 8 years for Mornig Calm Premium, but I would generally say that you should pick one FF program in the alliance and stick with it. Otherwise you're probably diluting your potential benefits.

S.