It is extremely useful in Asia and to also (to lesser extent) in Europe.
But value could be limited or very useful depending on your future travel plans in US.

Reasons:

- Asian marriotts and JW have far superior longe offerings
- Their difference in rate over mid-tier versions is not that great
- availibility of fairfield/springhill/residenceinn is none to sparse

In US:
- lounge tend to be ok to poor compared to Europe/US (although there are many excellent ones too)
- but difference in rate between FS Marriott/JW/Ren and FF/SH can be substantial


If you are traveling on someone else's dime (employer/client) then free internet/BF may not be of value to you

Also, if you are PL savy and paying from your own pocket, it is much cheaper to get FS Marriot/Ren at half the price and even if you have to pay for BF, it is nothing compared to PL saving. (yes, in many cases, even with PL , for repeat customers, tagetting a specific property with high probability of getting it is possible especially in non-high-density-urban areas)


If I get GOld without too much trouble/cost, it is nice to have. But as other poster said, the best rational approach would be to calculate and compare
a) your potential stays in 2014 where you would pay for BF/inet out-of-pocket while prefering to stay at FS Marriot/Ren vs SH/RI/FF.
b) cost right now of getting Gold