This sounds conspiratorial, but what if UA is doing some of these things so that they can break the contract with Chase on the CSR/CSP. Without those 2 cards, there would be no competition for the UA "Exploder" card.

I am really shocked that UA has such a weak rewards card. It really is almost worthless if you already have Gold status.

I wonder if UA was blindsided by the reaction to dynamic pricing. The minute they devalued the miles, the potential rebate for spend on their card went through the floor and savvy flyers started looking around for better options.