The honest truth is that I will not make any status, and certainly not Premier Gold, on United Airlines without the credit card waiver. I will finish this year with somewhere between 2400 and 2750 PQD and just over 52,000 PQM, so I'll have United "Gold" status through January 2021.

My plan going forward:
Today I applied and was approved for the Delta Reserve AmEx card. The introductory offer is 75,000 redeemable SkyPesos plus 10,000 MQM with $5,000 spend in the first three months. I should have no problem with the spend; I just need to make sure I don't surpass $5,000 until January 1 so the bonus MQM will count for 2020.

On or around December 10 I intend to apply for a Delta status match challenge to Gold. I'm planning three flights in January and February - two booked in First - to fulfill the match.

I'm getting the card for the MQM earnings and the MQD waiver, but it comes with SkyClub access and, starting in February, access to Centurion Lounges.

$450 - AmEx annual fee (10,000 MQM with $3K spend in first 3 months; add'l 15,000 MQM @ $30K spend in 2020 - total 25,000 MQM)
$1776 - tickets in January and February for status match (19,000 MQM)
$750 - additional Delta ticket purchases in March-May (~6,600+ MQM)

$2976 for Delta Gold status thru January 2022.

I'll spend the rest of 2020 burning United miles while I still have *Gold status and flying Delta for additional MQM to "rollover" into 2021.

The card fee will go up $100 for the following year but if the MQD waiver and bonus MQMs for spend are retained, it's worth it to me.