Originally Posted by J.Edward

A few years ago I shifted my spend away from co-branded credit cards (e.g. Chase's UA Club Visa) to bank point ones (e.g. Sapphire Reserve, AX Plat) to escape being held hostage to a specific loyalty program and whatever changes they decide to make.

Points earned in UR / MR / etc. remain flexible and carry a par value of sorts. Plus with cheap F fares being what they are, using points to have the bank just buy you the flights you want often cost about the same in terms of points as redeeming an award.

Anyways the takeaway for me is to drop the co-branded financial products in favor of those that earn a point that can be transferred to multiple partners or cashed out.