Hey Folks!

First the questions:
(1) What is your home airport? LAX
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? I don't know the fare class, but I generally fly the cheap options.
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? >50K, last 2 years have been >100k
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? United 1K
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? No real priority, lounge is nice, maybe upgrades?
(6) Which routes do you fly most often Transpacific (LAX to NRT mostly)
(7) Preferred Airlines Has been United only because of account status
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? work, but I decide how to fly

OK, so my current situation is that I'm 1K on United because I commute from LAX to NRT all the time. I also fly regularly to Boston and to some parts of Europe. With the announcement that United is changing how they classify status to $ spent not miles flown I'm guessing my always buying cheap tickets isn't going to help me keep my 1k status. Also, slightly annoying is that I can't use Global Upgrades on LAX to NRT flights which is what I fly most often. I like Star Alliance but I'm not locked into anything, so willing to consider whatever. Just trying to figure out what I should do in 2014. Thanks.