Come over, you will get a toster!
I am still waiting to see how the merger pans out, but 2011 has been great for me as a gold.
I was able to get upgrades in very busy markets such as EWR-IAH.
I fly transatlantic a lot and find that lounge network, soft product (customer service, food, treatment in general) is much better then on Hellta / Air Chance.
I also fly a lot on NYC-LAX/SFO route but I only take the Premium services flights which dont have free upgrades but you can use Regional upgrades (As Plat).
The feature that I use the most as a gold is a free +-24h (same day) change.
Yes Hellta has more FC seats but FC on RJ is still just a regular seat!