I am trying to advise a friend who lives in SYD on which Star Alliance FF program she should join. She currently flies a lot to SIN, PVG, and HKG mostly on SQ. She also flies to FRA on LH at least twice a year, and to LAX/SFO on UA once a year or so. She is not currently a member of any program (hard to believe, I know).

She was complaining about sitting in Y most of the time, and I told her that on UA should would probably make 1K and get some SWU's. But since she spends more time on LH and SQ she might not get that many chances to use the SWU's.

Do you think she would be better off joining either the LH or SQ program since she is on their metal more often, or would she be better off just joining MP and using the SWU's for the UA travel and for standby LH travel? I think she would be more interested in the upgrade possibilities than mileage redemption for free travel.