Originally Posted by
malmostoso
The only way of getting lounge access on US domestic flights is to have a non-UA *G card, so I'd say just go with SK, you'll make 24k points per R/T meaning you'll earn *G within 2 trips (45k is the threshold), and with 4 R/T you'll easily make Diamond (90k) which will allow you to gift a *G card to a friend or family member.
Redeeming on SK will also be cheap, since SK does not charge YQ on its own metal IIRC.
This is very helpful, thank you!
Having an easy route to Diamond is great, and being able to gift *G would be awesome.
And while mileage earn/burn isn't my primary objective, it does look much better on SK -- 1 roundtrip flight SFO-ARN in business class:
* SAS Eurobonus: Earn 24,000 points = 0.96 RT Y domestic US tickets (25K points)
* United MP: Earn 16,077 miles = 0.64 RT Y domestic US tickets (25K miles)
Thank you!