I agree with Rudi's comments.

United is not my first choice as far as airlines go however their Mileage Plus program is the best in my books. Here are the reasons why I like the program so much

1. United give away thousands of free miles for surveys, promotions etc each year. Where else can you get to fly for free?

2. They have some great airline partners eg Ansett, Air New Zealand etc

3. They give 100% miles/points for many discount economy class journeys whereas Ansett only give 70% of points for discount economy.

4. They are part of Star Alliance

5. The program is free to join

6. Awards can be purchased for a reasonable number of miles.

7. You can go across the pond (from Australia to the far east coast of America) for just 60,000 miles.

cheers Peter