Well those are some pretty great benefits for those of us who can maintain the status. Wonder what the free meal options will be, same as what they serve in FC?

I have thought about these changes for the last few days, and for me it seems like not much will change. In terms of the of the minimum spends outlined by lucky, I have never tabulated how much a year I spend on UA but the lowest price these days for a ticket to Singapore or Bangkok is between $2000-$2500 (only go for a few days and miss the minimum stay for the cheaper fares) I reckon I am spending more than $8k anyway. I am not a true Mileage Runner as I try to book flights that I can fit into my schedule and I usually go to visit friends or for work.

It is clear that with less players in the domestic market the airlines are in a position to make the requalifications tougher, but as there are many who complain just how bad service and offerings have become I reckon that maybe we might start to see some improvements in the soft product as the airline continues to generate strong profits which would be a welcome surprise. Since the summer of hell things have just gone downhill and only with the introduction of the Premium seats in C/F on the int'l services have things been on a uptick.

One change which I think is downright mean is that Premiers don't get to select E+ at booking. Why are they changing this, it just seems like a move that will create a lot of bad will among fliers - wondering how much UA/CO thinks they will make from this squeeze on bottom tier elites.

Overall, the 'game' appears to be changing.