It's all a matter of perceived value of United Premier status and the incidental card benefits for the annual fee paid (my PP annual fee is grandfathered at $375 a year). I mostly fly ANA operated trans-Pacific flights using United codeshares for my employer, so I don't get MM credits for those flights. I don't fly that much, so MM status is probably out of reach for me anyway.

Having Star Alliance Gold status is useful to check-in with ANA's first and business class. Star Alliance Gold status also gets admission to ANA Lounges which are almost always far superior to United Clubs. I haven't dropped below Premier Gold for years so I haven't had to rely solely on my United Club membership to access an ANA Lounge.

I'm currently a Premier Platinum and recently completed a domestic trip on United for business which gave me the four required United operated PQFs to requalify as a Premier Gold for 2025. Two of my segments were United Express operated without a first class section, but on the United operated 777-200 flights, I managed to get as high as #6 on the upgrade list, but even 1Ks were sitting in Economy Plus with me on those flights.

My Avis President's Club status which comes with the PP card got me a free upgrade from an intermediate car to an SUV on my recent trip, which was nice, but I was traveling by myself so it wasn't a big deal. With the new levels announced for 2025 qualification for 2026 status, between earned PQPs for flying and spend PQPs plus the anticipated occasional Chase quarterly PQP spend bonuses (I just received a 675 PQP bonus for July - September), I should be able to make Premier Gold again, but I don't see the benefit to me in the higher monthly fees for the United Infinite card with only a few extra spend PQPs earned being worth it.

The value proposition calculus is different for each individual. I assume United is trying to coax as many of us as they can to switch to the higher annual fee Infinite card so they can kill off the PP card, but so far, there is not enough incentive for me to do so. I plan to retire from full time work within a few years anyway, so switching to a much higher annual fee card is not appealing to me. The current benefits of the PP card for the annual fee I pay are sufficient for me, although the loss of earning new Flex PQPs was certainly a downgrade in the benefits of this card.