Yes, it's true that you don't get much benefits from Spanair's elite status like free upgrade coupons.

But when redeeming, Spanair's points are so effective that you can often simply book business class for about as same mileage equivalent points as other carriers' economy calss. The Spanair points are THAT effective.

For Examples below, I will multiply the required points with 2.7 and then round it up for simplicity. So you almost always need less miles than those results.

Example1 : Japan-Kazakhstan
UA : 80k miles economy, 120k miles business
Spanair : 8k economy, 12k business = about 22k and 33k each.
HOLY ....!!! Even first clsss (16k = 44k) is much cheaper than UA economy!!!

Example2 : Japan-USA
UA : 60k miles economy, 90k miles business
Spanair : 15k economy, 22.5k business = about 41k and 61k each.

Example3 : Europe-USA
UA : 50k miles economy, 80k miles business
Spanair : 14k economy, 21k business = about 38k and 57k each.

Example4 : RTW
UA : 200k miles economy, 300k miles business
Spanair : 40k economy, 60k business = about 110k and 162k each.

Example5 : Brazil-Japan
UA : 90k miles economy, 120k miles business
Spanair : 22k economy, 33k business = about 60k and 90k each.

Example6 : USA-Brazil
UA : 50k miles economy, 80k miles business
Spanair : 12k economy, 18k business = about 33k and 49k each.

Example7 : within North America
UA : 25k miles economy, 40k miles business
Spanair : 6k economy, 9k business = about 17k and 25k each.

Man it's even much better than I first thought.
Ok, ok. UA gives bonus miles to its premier members. But only if they fly with UA or LH(Europe-USA). For people not living in the US like me it's of no use at all.

Spanair Plus is a blessing, especially for people living in Asia like me since the bonus table is EXTREMELY generous for Asian Regions.
And ANA's, ASIANA's, Singapore Air's, and Thai's FFP simply suck.

Any opinions?