Originally Posted by
UA Fan
US maybe a useless carrier but the Star Alliance is the big redeeming point. Star exceeds 1W in quantity and is close in quality. The only place Star is weak compared to 1W is South America/Australia. The comparision is not even close especially after you factor in the YQ infested BA.
While I would give Star a slight edge in Europe, it is really because of LH. Most of the other carriers have a much smaller footprint. TP, LO, OS, SK, SN, LX, A3. And putting aside the YQ issue, BA is close to LH in size. AB is the 6th largest carrier in Europe IIRC, and LH is the only Star carrier larger than it. Well, unless you consider TK to be a European carrier. And Star's edge over OW is mainly in eastern Europe. For western Europe, BA, IB, and AB provide a lot of destination options.
And Star redemption is better with UA than with US, given that UA allows for one way travel, and the absence of an automatic $50 award redemption fee.