Originally Posted by
LongviewTX
My personal opinion is that keeping Platinum only for 2 reasons above is not a great value - Starwood Gold in my personal experience is of little value and as far as getting flexible miles AmEx SPG fits the bill better (you can get 1.25 miles for every dollar spend if you transfer them in bulks of 20,000 miles).
I should have added that I like the no conversion fees with the AmEx platinum as well.
I know I get that with the Chase BA, but that is the program I use the least.
The value I feel I get from the Starwood gold that comes with the Plat. is that I have actually received room upgrades for every Starwood stay. It seemed to me that when I use cash and points (8000 pts and $150/night) at the Luxury Collection and then am upgraded to what is usually at least a concierge type level, that I have recouped my yearly fee for Platinum, but maybe I'm wrong.