I'd say it's an ok alternative when you want to make only a portion of a geoset invisible instead of splitting that geoset.
Because using geoset animations would only make the whole geoset disappear in that case.
I only recommend it for detached parts though, like a whole sword or a single wheel (of a geoset of multiple wheels).
If you use it on something segmented/attached like a hand, you can imagine it will leave behind a weird pointy stump.