I've used my UR points to top off my Hyatt account for rewards (generally for the Andaz Amsterdam), but I find the single best use of my UR miles is for United. I have been able to redeem for Lufthansa first class and United business class a few times between Europe and NA via my United miles.
I also redeemed my United miles for a first class non stop from NA to Tokyo on ANA
I also think there's a sweet spot for transferring to Singapore Air to get on the JFK to Frankfurt flight in business class