I was able to use a frequent flyer program that awarded Tier Miles no matter which fares I bought.
Etihad Guest awards Tier Miles based on distance traveled - even on the lowest Economy Fare at the actual traveled distance.
I was able to use this when I started commuting between France and Australia in 2017, leveraging European ports and prioritizing Melbourne as an entry port for Australia, then connecting on VA services to BNE - to get a larger Tier Miles amount than via SYD when the EY BNE service was terminated.
Made a fair few returns in 2017-2018 that made me Gold with
Etihad - I try to always prioritize them and Virgin when I travel to return to Europe or on holidays.
Etihad also credits Tier Miles & Segments for GF & SV sectors which is beneficial with East Asia competitive fares.
I then benefited from the VA Status Match & QR Status Match to Platinum.
I was not able to maintain VA with Status Credits during COVID - however, QR will see me drop to Gold in March as I credited some IB and CX fares that would not be credited to Qantas.
With the new
Etihad Guest changes announced for June, I doubt I'll be able to maintain my Gold status as easily I fear, but those travels are all self-funded, so the value/time extracted has been dropping a bit lately with somewhat expensive
Etihad fares from Australia from MEL/SYD which are not as easy for myself to justify when QR and CX are getting a bit more aggressive ex-BNE.