(1) What is your home airport? IAH, AUS
(2) What types of fares do you usually buy ? Economy, occasionally Premium Economy/Business for long-haul international
(3) How many miles do you usually fly each year? 25-30k on average, varies from 10k-50k for specific years
(4) Do you have any kind of status at present? What is it? None
(5) What is most important to you in a FFP? Checked baggage when flying economy, upgrades to business if possible, lounges
(6) Which routes do you fly most often US Domestic, US-Europe/India, US-Southeast Asia/Australia/New Zealand (less common than the others)
(7) Preferred Airlines Not exactly preferred but I usually take United for domestic, Lufthansa for transatlantic
(8) Do you travel for work or pleasure? Pleasure, vacations and visiting family/friends who are all over the world

I have been a member of United MileagePlus for about 9 years now, but just emptied my mileage balance redeeming award tickets. Just as I started more regularly hitting 25k miles flown in a year they added the PQD spending requirement which I usually don't hit. So before I start earning miles again on revenue flights I wanted to check if there's a better option for me in terms of being able to get Star Alliance status. I am also worried about United switching to the dynamic award pricing as I rely on using my miles for long-haul international during peak period travel (mainly when I visit family in India during school holidays)