I am flying on Korean Air from Sydney to New York in Y, with a Seoul stopover on the outbound flight.

I am flying on Korean Air from Sydney to New York in Y, with a Seoul stopover on the outbound flight. I'm Qantas FF silver and Velocity silver. I've never flown Korean - I usually fly Qantas, Virgin or Singapore.

Is it worth joining a reward program for this trip? I'm not a member of any Sky Team program, and I'm not sure which airline's program might give me the best benefits. I'm most interested in points transfer to Virgin or Qantas, increased luggage allowance, and lounge access. But I realise on one trip that might not be possible. Thanks

There are plenty of choices, why Korean Air? Just curiosity.

Better seat pitch, service, etc.

Jim, I don't think it's worth joining a SkyTeam program unless you own an Ink Bold or a Chase Sapphire card in which case you can transfer points 1:1 to KE Skypass, or if you'll travel KE from now on in which case I recommend KE Skypass for the same reason.

"Better seat pitch, service, etc."

And especially good safety records.

A few reasons

Korean offers direct flights. Asiana does too, however I wasn't impressed last time I flew Asiana.
Korean has A380 flights between Seoul and JFK (though sadly no Y on top deck).
Korean was much cheaper than the other options.

I just flew the A380 from HKG-ICN in Y. It is the blandest iteration of the aircraft I've seen (previously done QF in J and F, and SQ in J). Average service, average inflight ent. 

You're not going to gain status in any airline with 1 trip in Y.