Kacee framework was "the three alliances", and my reply was based on this. Obviously, if you switch to non-allied airlines, status is meaningless.

I've been more or less forced into the Skyteam fray here in Shanghai ever since China Eastern gobbled up Shanghai Airlines (previously ,*A). I actually don't care much about status anymore, but I find myself flying MU at least 80% of the time (not to the US, though, because fares are still crazy expensive), which is sufficient for DL gold or platinum. It's not as good as Star gold and is even further behind OW emerald, but the basic structure is the same. If I was willing to go out of my way to fly CA and HO (Juneyao, a terrible airline that is a junior *A member), I could hit *G, but the amount of inconvenience this would entail would greatly offset Star's advantages over Skyteam.