Priority that SEs have for upgrades, etc. is certainly better than Es have. You'll certainly miss things you take for granted so if you have the time and money, go for it.

However, if you have several 15K trips in the first few months of 2010m you can always gamble that AC will give lapsed SEs the same deal as was offered this year: fly 55K by June and you will get upgraded to SE for the balance of the year and just have to earn 85K to retain SE for 2011/12. Of course, no guarantee this will happen again. But if you're willing to gamble, remember that you will still be SE until the end of next February.