So much for alliance loyalty. Qualified for Premier Gold this year and next, so I'll enjoy the temporary reprieve. I consider myself a pretty loyal traveler, and try to fly on UA domestically and Star partners internationally (LX and LH primarily) whenever possible. When I was based out of NYC this was easier to do on UA metal from EWR, but now that I'm in BOS and going to Eastern Europe every 2 months, my international options are much more limited. Either I pay higher prices and waste more time traveling down to EWR or IAD to fly TATL on UA, or just leave BOS and connect in ZRH/FRA/MUC.
Looks like I'll be signing up for Miles and More, I guess, although achieving Senator status, as I understand, requires double the miles (100k) than for Premier Gold.