Originally Posted by porciuscato

I've decisively shifted my CC spending from the United Club Card to Amex cards and Chase Sapphire.

As an example, buying a $1000 ticket with the Amex platinum, I get 5000 points, vs. 2000 UA miles with the Club Card. The 5,000 Amex points give me $67.50 toward buying a United ticket. PLUS, I get miles and PQD for that ticket (because it's just like a ticket purchased with cash). Even in the past, it was almost impossible to get a $67.50 value with 2000 UA miles. The dynamic award pricing is likely to make it completely impossible.

When it comes to non-airline purchases, the Club Card only gives me 1.5miles/dollar spend; whereas I average around 3 points/dollar on the Amex/Chase Sapphire/etc. Again, 1 Amex or Chase point is more valuable than 1 United mile. So the return is nearly twice as much using non-United cards.