Do Femap contact surfaces/elements transfer easily into Abaqus.

[JoeBobJenkins]

I'm working on a problem where we initially wanted to use Nastran linear solver but now realize we need to be using contact surfaces. The first thought is to use Abaqus in a non-linear way. We've got beams, bars, bricks, and shell elements all together. Since I currently use Femap I feel it'll be easier and quicker to apply these things into Femap. However I'm wondering will I just be wasting my time w/ some features if I import into Abaqus. Ie. If I have an analysis model w/ no geometry will the elements associated with the contact surfaces still know how to interact. If I use contact elements instead of surfaces with this still be a problem? What other things could I lose by transferring the model and is there a preferred format?