Originally Posted by
global_happy_traveller
as far as I know, UA only gives full star alliance reward access to their 1K members and above (not Premier *S, Premier Exec) and last checked its so hard to get an UA Asia-North America J redemption
What do you mean by that?
The only thing 1Ks have that others dont is some extra economy access on United flights. Being 1K does not affect Star flights.
It is just as easy to get an Asia-NA award as it is with Aeroplan.
StarNet blocking is dead. If an issue arises, one can easily just transfer miles into CO (for now) and book the trip there. As of June 15, business awards to Asia go down 5000 points, and CO will also offer one-way with FULL access to Star Alliance.
The only problem is that if you are a general member, you will get routed to India, and booking an award can be a hassle. But so is Aeroplan.
United also allows MPM15 routing vs MPM5 routing for Aeroplan