Hi Jim
In response to your question,
Priority list is now in place of Select Status etc,
if you changing to sim only and buying your own phone then you still have a priority status, the status depends on the Average monthly spend, and not the upgrade that you take,
so weather you buy your own phone or get one from upgrade you will still be on the priority list,
Granted you may be reduced to a lower priority but this is done on a 12 monthly basis, so you will stay at your current priority status for a while,
the benefits of priority are different for everyone, these include Discounted concert.gig tickets, sometimes free, Early upgrade etc,
hope this helps
nattalie x