With a planned work trip to PHX (in J) that will now be delayed to January, I'm going to come up short at between 95 and 96k unless an emergency work trip comes up. I've been EXP for six years and find its worth it, so regardless of the cost, I'm going to do a near term JFK LAX MR. There may be cheaper ways to go, but I want to avoid LGA and I don't want to do connections this time of year. I won't be high on the upgrade list at about a $15-$16k spend, but it will be high enough for some trips.
Bottom line is that its a perk that still is worth it to me, particularly for international leisure travel which I'm hoping to do three times next year.