Yes it appears that the current US/A3 partnership is only for earning redeemable miles, not status miles. I have enough status miles for the highest tier of A3's FFP this year, but this transcon on US should give me just enough redeemable miles for an award ticket I've been looking for.

I've never used a credit card tied to an airline's FFP before, and have only rarely flown US, so I really appreciate the advice.