Living in USA should not be that hard to fly 4 UA flights
FF miles for awards the main objective? Consider earn to burn/sucharges and the process for getting awards. Not all ffp's have the same process.
Star Alliance:
Need advice on which Star Alliance FF scheme to join? - please post here
Look at the links in post 3.. General FFP:-
Which Frequent Flyer Program to Join? Help Is Here!
The UA ff refugee thread:-
2020 MP changes — Will you switch loyalty programs? What program will you switch to?
Be mindful of expiry
Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire. Click to open the wiki.