If the educational allowance is AED 30,000 per child, upto 3 children then it is perfectly ok as most schools are charging somewhere in that range.
As far as housing goes, has anyone flying for EK etc tried living in Sharjah and commuted? I gather rents are cheaper there but the traffic is a
In fairness to the airlines, allowances are meant to subsidize your expenditures out of pocket but not necessarily eliminate them. In a perfect situation they would though and you would live and send your kids to school for free. No U.S. airline I know of helps you with housing or schools. So if you live in San Francisco where the rents are highly inflated as well, you are on your own. Your choice to live there.
On a different note, anyone at EK from the States try to ship their cars to the UAE? How difficult is it and what are the costs? It might be a cheaper option than having to buy one in country.
FlyDubai screening I expect will be the Emirates interview process?