This happened to a friend of mine. I gifted him gold (he was already silver) at 9 am on a Sunday pst time. We were on an 11:15 redeye. He checked the app about 1 hour before boarding and he still showed as silver. By the time he was in his seat, it showed him as gold. He only got the mile bonus as a silver despite it showing him as gold before we departed. They refused to give him the bonus even with that proof. So, go figure!