*Cross posted on the United page as well.

I will soon be flying quite a bit to West Africa, and I am trying to figure out which airline has a better frequent flyer program for my needs.

I will be flying out of Houston, Texas and both airlines fly directly from the East Coast (Delta - NYC and ATL and United - DC) into Accra, Ghana (my destination).

I will probably fly anywhere from 4-8 times per year (26K-52K miles), and I will also plan to use the credit card connected with this airline to build more miles (probably another 25K miles/year.) So, it looks like I will be over 50K a year plus whatever bonus miles come with all the flying I will be doing.

I am most interested in the following rewards associated with the programs:

1) Upgrades when I am flying to West Africa
2) Free flights (both domestic and International)

Thanks for your help.