Originally Posted by
martinnj99
I am EXp with AA and find US carriers tend to be more generous with benefits, status and redemptions than their foreign counterparts.
No necessarily. It all depends on what you want and how you fly.
To answer your question, most people here recommend UA as the program of choice for people flying discounted economy fares and mainly wanting low redemption values. The biggest downside is the limited award availability which UA makes available to their members (Starnet blocking).
But of course other programs can make sense, too depending on the booking classes flown. AC comes to mind or even M&M.