Originally Posted by jcresq

I suspect the answers to these questions will vary by each person's travel patterns and values. For me, I fly mostly domestically, I am based in DC (DCA or IAD), and I'm in it for the same day changes, the "free" E+ seats, and the possibility (remote as it is) for upgrades. I have been Gold for many years. I will not qualify for Gold under the new program; the spending requirements are too steep (not all "business" travel is for businesses with large travel budgets!). I suspect there are many like me, who have continued to fly UA primarily for those benefits and the need to re-qualify each year. UA is basically telling me that they do not value the business at my level to the extent they once did, and they they are OK with me taking my business elsewhere. I will certainly do that. The purpose of loyalty programs, from the carrier's point of view, is to create incentives to fly them as much as possible. These changes eliminate those incentives for me, and for many. So, I"m not even sure whether to do mileage runs to get to Gold for next year--is there really a point if i'm going to switch carriers anyway?