It is easy to get into a numbers comparison but QOL is really the issue. Working for DAL you can pick where you live, working for EK you live in Dubai. In the States you can get more bang for your buck. In Dubai there is no real competition, Sharaf charge the same as E-Max, all the restaurants charge the same inflated prices for the same meals and booze.
I don't mind Dubai but it is starting to warm up so my love hate relationship is about to change. I am sure, were I on an equivalent salary in the States, I would be better off financially, morally and QOL wise than I presently am sitting in the sandpit.
Anyway a silver lining, In Europe they are whinging about poor air quality and health effects due to Saharan sand, thank goodness we don't have any if that here..........