Originally Posted by
njcommodore
That is unless you fly Y/B or want the extra 25% mileage bonus. The elite security line and preboarding is nice too, especially if you're in Y and fighting for bin space.
Originally Posted by
bmw303
in addition to bag fee waivers which can save quite a bit each trip.
These are all fair points, but remember that a Silver doesn't fly that much to begin with, especially one who is struggling to make Silver. We could be looking at someone who flies as little as 2 trips a year.
The bag fees may not be an issue if they're flying internationally, or if they don't check bags often. As has been pointed out, upgrades on CO out of the West Coast are nearly impossible for Plat, so essentially non-existant for Silver.
And the Elite bonus is only 25%, if you're flying 25K or less, it could be pre-paying $91 for a potential of up to 6,000 miles (or less) and some pre-boarding privileges on a couple of trips.
It really is a YMMV situation.