I'm writing this for a friend of mine that is a freelance magazine writer. He does adventure stories, usually in remote locations. He is based in Santa Fe, NM. Typically flies 50,000 miles a year to places like horn of Africa, India, Pakistan, Tibet, places like that.

His goal is not upgrades, just to accumulate miles for domestic travel. Obviously, he will be able to become elite with the carrier he chooses and the miles he flies. He typically chooses the airline based on what flights work best for him and price. The magazine typically does not pick the carrier. He flys coach.

Which domestic program has the furthest global reach in your opinion? If several are tied, which offers a higher rate of bonus or has better award availability?

Thanks for your help.

The bigger the Alliance the better coverage I'd imagine.
OneWorld or Star Alliance I'd imagine.
However he'll need to choose from within each as to which is best for his primary carrier and which alliance best services his redemption routes.

Even SkyTeam might work, depending on where he tends to go. AF and KL have good networks in and around former colonies. It really depends on where he plans to go, and how much of a draw loyalty has over convenience.

If flying discounted Y, it is also good to check earning rules. In OneWorld, the lower fare classes on CX, BA, QF and IB generally less than 100% mileage credit, and Star Alliance is generally even more restrictive (looking through the ticketing carrier to the operating carrier, which AFAIK OneWorld does not). The US SkyTeam partners (CO, NW, DL) all still seem to offer 100% mileage credit (albeit not necessarily EQM) even for discount economy.

Very true. With One World there are a few fare classes that earn 0 miles. I've flown a few segments on Cathay and one on Air Tahiti Nui that netted 0 Aadvantage miles.

Without letting the tail wag the dog, I first checked to see which airlines would best serve his needs.

After checking some route maps, Singapore and Thai have better coverage than Cathay into India, Nepal, and South Asia. See Thai routes here. See Singapore routes here. See Cathay routes here. So, based on his extensive travel to South Asia, I would recommend a Star program.
Note that in the Thai program, 10k within a calendar year or 15k over 2 years on any carrier on cheap fares earns Thai Silver status, recognized as Star Silver. Gold status requires 50k over 1 year or 80k over 2. Note that this status does not grant bonus miles, but does allow elite check in, etc., etc.

Star does have coverage in Africa via Lufthansa-- granted it's not as exhaustive as South African Airways in southern Africa, or Kenya Airways in eastern Africa, or Air France in western Africa, but find out if it's enough for him to get by. If not, then my hunch is the Air France / KLM / Kenya Airways combo in Sky Team should work for him.

If his travel is so extensive that a single partnership won't work, then I would suggest focusing on SkyTeam with links to Africa and SE Asia, but leverage the Thai program for Star Silver if for no other reason than to jump lines when traveling in South Asia.

Among the SkyTeam partners, NW has some special bonds between Chinese airlines that the other SkyTeam partners don't, so I would look to NW as the SkyTeam program of choice, especially given travel to Tibet.

Hope that helps!

The programs with the best alliance network along with the most regional partners in places like South America, Afria and intra-Asia.

NW/KL and CX I like.