I'm a refugee from UA last year and requalified EXP this year. While the cuts to mileage earning/redemption are sad, they are expected.
The big thing that keeps me with AA is the upgrade percentage. While significantly less than last year at about 80% (previous year wsd 99.5%), it's still better than my abysmal 25% with UA on the same route. If AA starts selling upgrades from under me like UA does, then I'll just book the most convenient flights, and not care about status.