<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Jim_B:
You might also want to consider awards on UA's *A partners. I just sent my family to Germany on Varig, getting C class tickets for 100k each (compared to 90k for coach on LH).</font>
But if UA were to go under, there's no guarantee your UA award tickets would be honored by the carrier on which your trip is booked.
When Ansett went into receivership, Ansett award tickets booked on UA metal (already booked, but for future dates) were turned away. After all, an Ansett award on UA metal is booked as an Ansett ticket (Ansett ticket #). Ansett tickets weren't any good when Ansett wasn't flying.
Luckily, Ansett award tickets booked before 9/1 are now being honored..
Point is, there are no guarantees from using UA miles on another carrier for future travel.