I don't think anyone can realistically state that one airline was better in all aspects than another airline. There are *features* of airline products and *features* of airline loyalty programs that are better than features of other airline products or loyalty programs, and if those features line up with your flying patterns, then that airline or loyalty program is better *for you*. For other people's flying patterns, different features line up better and another airline or loyalty program will be appropriate. Also, for a sense of how the merger is integrating things take a look at
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-ua-vs-co.html