I think it depends on the airline. If you're flying Jetblue, Virgin America or to some people Southwest airline status doesn't really feel very important. On B6 and WN everyone is basically the same and there's only one class. On all three service in Y is good with F/As who really seem to care about people.

However, on the major airlines flying without status sucks. Bad seats (fewer and fewer cheap seats can be selected in advance without a fee), no guarantee of overhead bin space, checked bag charges, everything is basically ala carte etc. The only aircrafts where status don't matter are the CRJ-200 and the ERJ-135/140/145 (if you can get a single seat).