Good topic OP. I have been wrestling with that issue too. But from my flights this year, I could discern the following:

1. Status did not mean much when it came to IRROP. There was pretty much nothing they could or will accommodate me on.
2. Miles are incredibly hard to use on DL/AA and with inflation at UA one is short of miles.
3. I still have all my AA GPU for this year intact as nothing clears except if you are lucky at the gate. CPU on UA and DL were non-existent this year.
4. The best bet has been flying WN this year - no cancellation fees or rebooking fees. If you check in 24 hrs ahead, you will get an aisle seat plus get to put your bags in the overhead bin. They had some bad delays but are getting better -- point a to point b nonstop on 737s with wifi.

So my decision for 2015 has been to book the convenient, comfortable and nonstop flights as much as possible and forget about the entire status game. Will admit that it was quite hard to walk away from the status stuff.