(1) What is your home airport? DEN
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 100k+
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? Premier status on UA, A-list preferred on WN (lol)
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Upgrades, Redemption Mileage Accrual
(6) Which routes do you fly most often: Mostly between DEN and California (DEN-SMF, DEN-SFO, DEN-OAK, DEN-SNA, etc.) occasionally outside of CA, but almost exclusively domestic.
(7) Preferred Airlines: No preference
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Almost exclusively travel for work


Basically, I am trying to decide between UA and US. I thought these were equal, until I asked about an upgrade on a US flight for *Silver and the lady at the counter just kind of laughed at me ("Which airline do you have status? United? Definitely not."). Is the reverse true (status upgrades on UA with US status)? Maybe it's different for *Gold? Company policy is to book the cheapest fare, which can be either on any given week (though seems to favor US if I take a stop to build more segments/miles).

What of mileage redemption? Am I crazy or does it take less miles to redeem awards on partner airlines through US? Would I earn enough "bonus" miles on UA to make up this difference to make it a wash? Are there even "bonus" miles to earn through UA (speaking strictly about the airline program itself, not hotel, CC deals, etc.)? I would like to be able to take an intercontinental vacation now and again (maybe once per year, destination undecided).

Thanks for your help in working through this!