SEA-based FF Program?
 

Is UA MileagePlus or NH's ANA Mileage Club better for a SEA-based flyer?

My flight pattern is 2-3 domestic transcons/ year in Econ or Econ+, and about 2-3 SEA-TYO or -Southeast Asia/ year in Econ+ or business. Possibly Europe once a year.

Cheapest across the pond flights for me are either from SEA or YVR when flying ANA. There are some really cheap fares in business on TK all the way to Southeast Asia but with all going on in that part of the world, I would probably just avoid for now.

I keep hearing how 'disadvantageous' the ANA Mileage Club is, although going with UA, it might end up being another Delta in a year or two.

Insights on best program for me would be appreciated!

NH's miles have a hard expiry of 3 years, and requires you to fly NH for roughly half of the earning, but still has a distance based chart. NH status does get you into United Club's domestically though.

If you're flying NH to TYO/Southeast Asia, UA won't credit for more than 750/1500PQP per segment. UA got hit with a pretty major devaluation in 2023, which means it should be safe for a year or two. For your Econ/Econ+, you'll have Econ+ seating domestically.

Do you pay for your own travel (+ reimbursement?) or company-paid? What sort of annual spend is involved for this pattern?

I know I'm a bit of a broken record on this (a metaphor possibly lost on anyone younger than 50) but have you considered a round-the-world ticket? These have different prices depending on the country from which travel begins, and at present a business class Star Alliance RTW good for up to 29,000 flown miles has a base price ex-Japan of $4355. (The same ticket with travel beginning and ending in the USA has a base price of $10,426.) With that ticket you could fly a route something like this - or any one of thousands of variations.

If you were willing to switch to Oneworld program (which might be better as it includes Alaska as well as Japan AL, Cathay Pacific Malaysian, and Sri Lankan) you could use a Oneworld RTW that has no mileage limit. See the recent posts on this thread - Round the World - Star Alliance - $3k-$4k Ex-Italy - Page 3 - FlyerTalk Forums for a little additional information. Just a thought, anyway.