Thanks for all the replies. It seems to me that if you are going to fly on one particular airline it is best to go with their FFP. I am anticipating flying on UAL at least for the next 2 years, so to me it makes sense to use UAL's FFP. Am I understanding it right that that is the only way to get the elite bonus miles of up to 100%? That would mean a lot of extra miles in my case. Also it seems they offer some confirmed upgrades on top of using miles to upgrade. If I switch to flying ANA in the future, I can reevaluate the FFP. My main concern is UAL's ability to exsist long enough to use the miles, but I guess I will take that chance.
Looked at the starnet blocking thing...that is crazy they are getting away with that. Maybe if enough people make some noise about it they will change.
thanks again