Except in the worse option, status buy up, after spending $750, you would level up. Using the same dollar amount paying taxes would result in 375 SP only (with the higher fee Summit credit card). My tax situation does not benefit from paying extra I don't need to.

Yes, you can accumulate SP from every day spend on AS credit cards, but at the trade off other higher earning (non airline) credit cards.

I have never been big on co-branded airline credit cards. Never had one with any airline program (active in 4+ - AA, AS, DL, UA, with some F9 as the latest flavor). My account does not need more miles either, as I have a balance of nearly 1M with AS, all from flying, over the last 5+ years.

Just for the record, I am not doing anything. I am keeping my $ with me.