AY vs. QR for status depend very much on which airlines you'll fly (or more precisely, which airline codes you fly on). QR is quite good for QR and AA codes, but average on a lot of others (they may have some others with bonus Q Points, I just don't know a chart for it without manually checking the calculator). AY is great for AA, BA, and IB codes, slightly above average for AS codes and is pretty average for others.

It's really going to be a judgement call on your part, do you value faster status or more useful redeemable miles? None of us can answer that for you.