Doubts regarding rooting my out-of-warranty Samsung Galaxy phone - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi. I own a Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (2016) (SM-A910F/DS) with Android 8.0 (August security patch). It is now out of warranty. I want to root it. I do have prior experience in rooting my secondary Android phone but this phone is my daily driver and hence want some doubts cleared before attempting to root it using Odin. Following are the questions I need answers for:-
I am just going to root my phone to do some small scale customisation. I don't want to flash a custom or stock ROM. Some sources on the internet say that simply rooting the phone won't trip its KNOX flag while others say it will. What is the truth?
If indeed the KNOX flag gets tripped, will I ever be able to use Samsung Pay on my phone again?
If the KNOX flag doesn't trip, will Samsung Pay work on a rooted phone?
The firmware.mobi site hasn't yet updated the SM-A910F's firmware version to that of Android 8.0. My phone had received the Oreo update on 18th October, 2018. Can I still root my phone using whatever latest CF-Auto-Root package I get from there?
How to know if my phone is encrypted? I am confused about this because I haven't manually enabled any kind of encryption on my phone but since there is so much caution regarding rooting an encrypted phone, I don't want to take any chance.
So, these are the 5 questions which I want satisfactory answers for before I root my phone. A good explanation which will ward off my anxiety will be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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Deepak_HK said:
Hi. I own a Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro...........
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Click to collapse
I don't have this device but, the following area of the forum has been where the majority of the A9 threads have been posted (even though it only goes up to the A8 device).
https://forum.xda-developers.com/samsung-a-series
With that guidance...
The following threads are only a few available but, it's a good start for this type of question your asking that's specific to your device. Don't be afraid to ask for some member guidance within one of them too.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3859241
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3426701
Good Luck!
EDIT: I just wanted to let you know that I had just created the following post to ask the Admin to add the A9 Series to the above area of the forum. :thumbup:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=78061332
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UNLESS asked to do so, PLEASE don't PM me regarding support. Sent using The ClaRetoX Forum App on my SM-G900T device.

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Ibuprophen said:
I don't have this device but, the following area of the forum has been where the majority of the A9 threads have been posted (even though it only goes up to the A8 device).
https://forum.xda-developers.com/samsung-a-series
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have now posted this thread there as well. The lack of A9 in the list of devices had discouraged me from posting there.
Ibuprophen said:
With that guidance...
The following threads are only a few available but, it's a good start for this type of question your asking that's specific to your device. Don't be afraid to ask for some member guidance within one of them too.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3859241
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3426701
Good Luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. But these threads are quite confusing and less appealing to trust.
Ibuprophen said:
EDIT: I just wanted to let you know that I had just created the following post to ask the Admin to add the A9 Series to the above area of the forum. :thumbup:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=78061332.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!

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Deepak_HK said:
......... Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand your frustration but, please remember that developments for devices sometimes take a while before any developments begin to emerge. This is especially true for many Samsung devices too.
Also, the more members who request for a device the better. I can only encourage you to also request for the A9 Series device within the thread from the link that I had provided you with (the last one on my previous post).
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UNLESS asked to do so, PLEASE don't PM me regarding support. Sent using The ClaRetoX Forum App on my SM-G900T device.

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Yes, rooting your phone with CF / TWRP will trip Knox and disable Samsung Pay. Google Pay however will work on a device that has been returned to stock, but not one that has active root. Since it's looking for root as opposed to a Knox bit, this can probably be masked pretty easily if you wanted to use it on a rooted device.
Looking on firmware.mobi, I see 3 releases already for CF on Android 8.0 for your phone.
And your phone most definitely is encrypted. Any Samsung with Android 7.0 from the factory is encrypted. The exception is devices that were running Android 6 or lower that have been upgraded to 7+ and weren't encrypted by the user beforehand.