1) Gold
2) I'll be either Gold or Silver next year.
3) The post-3.1 changes really impact me as a Presidential Plus credit card holder who pays for my own tickets. I'm exempt from PQMs, but under the new rules it will be very hard for me to make even Silver despite 50k+ BIS miles.
•One immediate change: all international travel after 3/1 will be booked on Star Alliance partner airlines. Even 50% RDMs sure beats 5%; plus service must be better, even on whatever the second worst Star Alliance airline might be. (EgyptAir? Air India?)
•In a credit card + TOD world, with very few upgrades as a Gold since the merger, I'm grateful for this change because it ultimately means I no longer have any reason to be loyal to UA.
•I will do a status match to AA early next year to preserve mid-level elite for another year; then I'll get AA + VX + DL credit cards for the free bags.
•I look forward to not being tethered to UA for nothing else if not free beer over oceans.
The net/net/net: By devaluing both elite status and miles, United no longer differentiates itself to keep this customer.