Originally Posted by
dvs7310
Basically no one in Star Alliance really credits discount economy at 100% anymore, or none that I can think of offhand. UA used to on their own flights and PQMs on JV partners, but now with the PQP thing, that's gone. United and Star Alliance Silver is more or less worthless as well. I wouldn't really pursue UA status unless you can get to Gold. You might go for Asiana for easier Star Gold, but earnings aren't great for discount economy. However you only need 40k qualifying miles over 2 years.
The one and only benefit I can think of for going for UA Silver instead is access to Economy Plus seating, however as Silver you can only get it 24 hours in advance, so on busy flights it may not be a benefit at all.
I was UA *S in 2018 and it was already brutal back then finding E+ seating that wasn't a middle seat at check-in. I think I scored about 3 E+ non-middle seats that year so I decided to consolidate and push for UA *G. But not this year, going back to Delta.