United - Dont know much about it, but they seem to have a good amount of benefits + from American friends i keep hearing good things, and their 25.000 and 50.000 tier thresholds seems good (added to the 25% point bonus at Premier and 100% at PE - (ps. do theese count as EQM's?))
The elite bonus points do not count as EQM.
One of the best perks of the United program is Economy Plus seating. Once you hit 25k EQM, you get E+ on every flight. (It's not really Premium Economy, only extra leg room. But a significant amount of extra legroom.)
So if you're accustomed to flying economy to the US, if you can fly on UA metal, you'll have legroom.
On UA domestic segments, you have space-available unlimited first class upgrades. Your odds aren't very good, since it's status ranked, but it's something.
Because of the merger with Continental, you get these benefits on CO as well. (E+ will be installed on CO planes next year.)
Another program that's popular here is BMI's Diamond Club. (Not sure why - check out their forum.)
Make sure you check the earning rates for each program... even within *A, as you've noticed, not every program credits the same way for every partner airline.