I don't think ijgordon is defending this change, and neither am I. Just like the "we won't be able to get into a partner lounge with stickers" and many other sky is falling threads in the last 9 months, this one was blown slightly out of proportion. I blame UA Insider for not communicating this better in the original post and causing 25+ pages of speculation before the change went into effect. Even with expert mode or fare bucket visibility on UA.com I still kept my subscription to EF. There are a lot of benefits to it separate from expert mode. Yes, it will take much longer to search for upgrade availability, but you still can. Anyone who thinks this is a way for them to expand TODs is just ignorant.

They clearly want no one to have it easily. This isn't about infrequent travelers being confused, it's about making it harder to see R and the award buckets. But you still can.