This may not be so bad after all. When UA went revenue-based everyone called it ‘the end’, it was not. Earnings were up for many (unless you are buying ultra-bargain fares) and for some it became much easier to attain status. Imagine you have 2 business class TATL trips a year and some scattered domestic trips - not hard to get and maintain Gold; under the previous system getting 50k qualifying miles took a lot more flying than that