[nampa]

It sounds to me that what you want is really 2 different and separate things.

Points accumulation via credit card spend / travel spend and perks that come with status. Credit cards don't give the same perks that come with airline (and therefore alliance) status. Priority Pass lounges are nearly non-existent in the US, no priority security lines, usually no priority check-in queue, some of them give you a higher boarding number but still below the boarding number of airline status holders.

AA is actually quite good for points accumulation via Citi or Barclays credit cards and by flying partner airlines but not so much for flying AA itself. I flew NRT-DFW-LAX and v.v. last week in premium economy on AA, I'm AA EXP so had to credit to them, my companion credited it to QR (Qatar Airways) and got a lot more miles than I did as well as nearly enough Q Points to get Silver status (in itself not much but 4 of those tickets would get Qatar Platinum meaning OneWorld Emerald and lots of perks). AA status is really hard to get if you're starting fresh however, unless a high spender on the credit card due to the new system this year, you don't get nearly as many miles for actually flying as a base member or even Gold elite level.

Having said that, miles are far from equal on terms of earn and burn. Some are easier to earn but have ridiculous redemption rates, some are very difficult to earn (like ANA for example) but have amazing redemption rates, most fall somewhere in between. Qatar miles are now Avios, the same as Iberia and British Airways and interchangeable between the programs. Avios are wonderful for short haul flights but really terrible for long flights these days, AA miles on the other hand are wonderful for long haul premium cabin flights but you'll earn fewer of them for flying AA than crediting to QR (or BA for that matter).

The same goes for Star Alliance and SkyTeam. For the most part in Star Alliance I wouldn't recommend United Mileage Plus anymore, it's gone through the roof for most things, few sweet spots left. Aegean, LifeMiles, SAS miles are generally better these days in Star Alliance, even Turkish on some routes.

So as you can see, this is a gigantic rabbit hole you could spend ages trying to get to the bottom of.

As for credit cards, to accumulate miles, aside from the obvious cards for AA, DL, UA directly, you've already mentioned Chase, the Sapphire cards have points that transfer to quite a few airlines at good rates, the new Capital One Venture X is by far the best in the US market currently for earning and transfers, Citi still has a card that earns Thank You points but their transfer partners are lackluster, and of course Amex Membership Rewards, the Gold card is their sweet spot, but if you can use enough of the credits effectively actually the Platinum is well worth the high annual fee, also comes with Marriott and Hilton Gold status (Hilton Gold gives you far more than Marriott Gold but both useful to have). Don't dismiss the Marriott cards from Chase and Amex either. Their earning rates took a hit after the SPG merger but you can transfer Marriott points to around 50 different airlines, so you have access to some real sweet spots that are inaccessible to Amex and Chase holders. Marriott points get a 20% bonus when transferred at 60,000 for 20,000 (actually 25,000) point intervals, nearly evening out the disparity from when they went from 1:1 earn (now would be 1:3 in the new program) to 1:2 in the new program. Marriott give you access to ANA miles for example, something you could only do otherwise with the absolutely atrocious card from FNBO. South African Airways Victoria miles also has some real sweet spots in it's award chart that can only be accessed from Marriott points, no other card in North America can transfer points to them.

Hope that's helpful in some way... it's a big question and a series of answers since nothing is exact when it comes to miles earning, status, etc.

From additional research, I discovered that the points don't go nearly as far with the transfer to partners unless it's business or high end class. My travel plans often have a biweekly frequency and luxury is not my main concern. Is this your experience with point transfer as well? I have the apple card and bilt cards that transfer to a large variety of airlines.

Also, Spirit has good point redemption for international flights, fyi.