Originally Posted by
bocastephen
This is not how Kirby and his minions think - the more frequent flyers, the higher the cost of keeping them as customers. ...They don't pay fees, they sit in F or J for free, they require special phone lines and staffing, and real estate at the airport counter. ...
They only cost something if they are actually flying. If they are not flying at all, then there is zero cost to let them keep their status in the hopes that when things open up again, maybe sometime next year, they will fly on United rather than another airline.
Who knows what United will do, but I would bet that they try to keep their existing elites until things start to return to normal.