i was not a believer of OWE when i was OwS... but once experienced it i definitely feel there is large difference between second in the pack vs top of food chain... in an essense the perception i have is as OWE each OW airlines will treat you like their own top tier member but as OWS you just become just another frequent flyer without much kudos.

so if you travel also on non CX flight i think OWE goes quite far, besides tangible benefits like F lounge or baggage allowance. if you are always on CX, they know they have to look after their Gold well too so you might not see difference.