One more thought....

Instead of joining Cathay's FF program for $50., join American Airlines FF program which is free. Then give Cathay your AA frequent flyer number before flying. I'm in the AA mileage program and earned 18,000 miles on AA when I flew on Cathay from NY to Hong Kong last year. Also, AA is partners with Qantas, so you could transfer AA miles to Qantas. Also check if Cathay is partners with Cathay, if so, you can skip joining AA. When checking in for all your flights, make sure your FF number is in the record. If not, then you have to go through the trouble of mailing your ticket stubs to the arline to get the proper credits.

Candice NYC