Originally Posted by
narvik
I'll miss the free award ticket change/cancelation fees.
This.
Sure, I'll miss the odd free food and drink item, the rare upgrades, the increased mileage earning, and the free CLEAR membership -- but the single thing that I leverage extensively is close in award bookings with constant changes as I seek a better alternative. Having to pay $50 to change within 60 days is going to require me to change my whole approach to award travel.
I think this is the first time I truly believe that a UA change will thin the 1K ranks. Watch out for the special promotions in Q4 2020 when they see the numbers not quite tracking to where they want them to. I guarantee they're looking at my numbers this year (will end up around $23K spend) and expecting me to be a 1K next year. Odds are they'll see the exact opposite - and I say this with $5K in spend already booked for 2020.