Originally Posted by
Notyourbag
Thanks everyone for responding! Very insightful.
For me the biggest benefit for being *G is the lounge access and priority boarding & priority baggage. I'll never need additional baggage and mile redemption isn't the make or break for me. If MileagePlus offered domestic lounge access I would probably stick with that.
The biggest challenge is I doubt I'd actually fly OZ frequently - and from what I've read only Diamond Plus or Platinum is a chance of an upgrade. Having crunched some basic numbers on planned flights for 2019/2020 I still think I'll take the punt and switch to OZ. I wish they had Premium Economy and a wider Asiana lounge offering.
If you're just after the *G benefits, then there is no need to fly OZ at all. They don't have a minimum segment requirement like UA. Continue to fly whichever Star Alliance airline you prefer and credit the flights to OZ's program. You get your *G benefits regardless of the airline, the one major negative is the loss of E+ seats on UA, but you can always buy the annual subscription if you have more than a few UA flights per year.