Thanks for the info, all of you.

Note that I don't fly UA; if I did that might be a real selling point but I'm covered with DL and AS. Good to know about the Welcome Gift not being worthwhile in many cases.

Since Marriott Gold and HH Diamond are both within reach, I'll likely go that route instead of hitting Platinum. The one change that would make Platinum worth it personally would be if they restricted lounge access to Plats. But we aren't there yet and hopefully won't get there any time soon.

Dave