Not to doubt you, but do you have any proof of the qualifier? I seem to remember reading the FAQs that this will not increase their level if they flew to achieve Silver later.
Somewhere I have a printout though I can't seem to locate it at the moment; I hadn't even considered that the 2010 rules would be changed.
The FAQ now explicitly says the exact opposite of the original text clarified by footnote to the 2009 silver gift award.