SFO-FRA isn't necessarily a must. Just that among *A, it seemed to the fastest option (shortest flight duration). What is this Starnet blocking, some written policy or just some suspicion of what UA is doing?

On OW, SFO-LHR on BA would be attractive but on AA you can't accumulate all the miles/benefits on those flights nor get them as awards.

I suppose Swiss might have a SFO-ZRH direct flight so that could be an option as well.

Yeah I'll probably give the Citi AA thing a shot, though I wonder about the hit on the credit rating if I also do any UA and CO cards as suggested.