I tend to fly on paid tickets until I've requalified for whatever status level(s) I can reasonably reach that year, then on awards. Those are flexible guidelines: if I can get an award seat that would otherwise be expensive, and I expect enough lower-cost travel later in the qualification year to get the job done, I'll go for the award. However, requalification trumps almost anything else.

Having just returned from a round trip from the northeast U.S. to India over the Pacific, I would not have wanted to be without faster check-in, lounge access, priority boarding to get overhead space, and all the other stuff (which in this case included an MAA-SIN operational upgrade followed by a personal escort through Changi to make an otherwise impossible connection after a departure delay). I don't mind flying in back, though obviously F/J is better, but I would NOT want to be without status! After 20+ years, I'm spoiled that way.