i will fly on star alliance partner airlines and have the miles flown credited to my united account.
i really don't see the point in having status anymore. i never get upgrades. i also like having tsa pre-check but i plan on getting global entry so i am not relying on my status on united for quick security anymore. domestically, i never check any luggage so united has nothing to charge me with. internationally, i only have one checked bag. with my united card, i get free bag allowance anyways plus priority boarding and a (tiny) change of upgrading on my award ticket (probably will NEVER happen because i only book international award tickets and i like to book on non-united metal). the only thing is that when i downgraded from gold to silver, i totally missed the international lounges. i miss it ALOT (not the united lounges- those lounges are so BLEH- the star alliance lounges were awesome) but priority pass 100% met my needs and they have no airline affinity so i can go in on any airline ticket.
if united grants a waiver for $25k yearly spend, i will get silver status with no effort and very little united spend. i would just have to fly a minimum of 4 segments- two round trip quickies to lax would work!