I think the biggest perk of ED is being done with the process in mid-December. While my DD was rejected from her ED school, she ultimately did very well in RD . . . but it required a lot of time and energy. If she had been accepted to her ED school, I think she would have enjoyed her senior year a lot more and avoided a lot of stress.
DD is now at an equivalent school that is probably a better fit for her. I do wonder whether there might have been a nagging concern that she chose the wrong school had she been accepted in ED. I think the biggest benefit to RD is that in most cases it permits the student to make a more informed decision. But I also think there are many great schools and I am pretty sure that DD would have thrived in her ED school.