Thanks for your replies everyone. I've missed a lot of promos this year and to be honest I've not stayed with IC that much as their coverage is pretty ropey in some of Europe. The previous two years I'd made plat by about May!

I'm UK based so although there are some sources of easy points here it's nothing like the deals you are getting over there. The card over here for example is just a 10k bonus rather than that massive Chase one (same happens with UK airline cards btw, come on UK credit people where are the deals!). The miles transfer thing is something I'd not thought about but it's a good idea.

Re benefits, I'm not sure if it's because I'm in Europe or just due to staying quite regularly but I find that most (I'm a Holiday Inn sort of guy rather than an IC btw) hotels give pretty good treatment to plats.