Really - lets look at it objectively.

To be honest, Premier Gold for someone who retires after 1 Million or more real miles on the road as an Elite is NOT, as it has been from Jan 1, not worth a cracker really.

1. Upgrades as a mid tier will be near impossible for UDU - near always 25-50 names ahead of you on many routes.

2. The way it has been until now you got 2 x CR1 a year so you at least had a great shot at ONE flight a year being upgraded - no more CR1 = so there goes that ONE flight to look forward to in First.

3. Spousal "benefit" is meaningless if both spouses are Gold! And so what - see point 1.

4. Any paid fares will no longer get 100% RDM bonus as per the past decades.

5. As outlined above and agreed to by many here, it is only matter of time before UA decrees access to Star lounges will be restricted to only Plat/IK/GS - oh and all those huge CO fliers from the 1990s.

So whoopee - you'll get an extra piece of checked baggage (maybe not, going forward a year or so) and you board slightly ahead of the Kettles. Gee after a Million miles and $100,000s of spend that is IT!??? They are kidding.

Yes, Gold for someone who never had Status is nicer than not having it, for sure.

But for the MM who have been 1Ks for 10 or 15 years it is a joke really.

Making them Premier PLATINUM from March addresses most of the above. However leaves them way short of top tier. So the TRUE Uber Flyers still are ahead of the game - RCC for life etc for 2MM and so on.

Premier PLATINUM from March is a pretty decent fit really for true MILLION Milers, and their past serious $$$s and loyalty certainly deserve that.

Loyalty is a 2 way street. Give once loyal flyers nothing and they they have nothing to lose going elsewhere.

March is not yet here - they still have the time to move the goal posts and announce a few "fine tunes" to the program.

155,000 page views of this badly thought through, train wreck policy making, is a BAD thing for UA, a really bad thing for top tier loyalty.