Moderator: Chase Ultimate Rewards
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 2P, MR LT Plat, IHG Plat, BW Dia, HH Au, Avis PC
Posts: 5,452
You'll only really know once you try out Silver and see if it makes a difference. The popular opinion is weighted fairly evenly.
If you end up close near the end of next year, an unscheduled vacation makes a nice trip instead of a pure MR.
Maybe the moderators will move your thread over to the United forum. Then you'll have more opinions than you ever wanted.