After a few days of digesting this, I am now not happy or sad. My new conclusion is United is the first airline to ditch their frequent flyer program. They are now a United Credit Card Program. If you don't have a United credit card, you might get a token amount of miles but nothing much.

If you are Gold or higher, that means you travel a lot, fly on moderate to high fares, and probably are up to date in credit card knowledge. With that much travel, getting a moderate level United/Chase card isn't that hard.

The biggest airline that still has a traditional frequent flyer program is Alaska Airlines/Hawaiian Airlines Atmos. They have miles for distance travelled but you can opt for the miles per dollar, if you wish. United has a credit card program. Delta and American are mixed but likely will join United.