Remember flying AC across the Pacific will get you a double miles bonus along with your SE bonus (if you selected that option) meaning you'll earn 35K+ in redeemable miles depending upon where you go and your routing.

Having tasted both SE and E, even with a downgrading of benefits possible next year, having that extra 3-days in the upgrade window for SSWUs is quite beneficial on high demand routes. Main problem is you missed some of the better Asia fares with last week's seat sale. I also think that waiting until mid-December for the new benefits to be announced may be too late to do a MR in a cost-effective manner.