Hello,

I am currently Gold Premier which I qualified for for the first time after four month of this year, however my flying pattern has changed for this year since and basically has me grounded with very few exceptions until year's end. However next year I expect my travel to be back at the same level as in the first quarter of this year (i.e. at approximately 140 flights a year).

That said I consider either going for either Platinum Premier or 1K on my own dime, and to achieve that I would need something like a weekend plus $800 for Platinum (however secondary aspects would more than cover the weekend's worth) and about $1900 and two weekends for 1K (see above for the value of time, yet it would be a stretch to manage this in November and December).

As next year's travel will certainly will pick up and I will definitely use some perks afforded by higher status in 2015 - what status would you go for? Should I settle for the Platinum status which gives me the (very useful) access for 9 people to E+ which I will need in 2015 (so saving me at least 7x $200 for the additional seats) or grab 1K status, which may increase my chances of using my miles in any meaningful way for a second trip in 2015 and for upgrades while en-route in 2015. Everything else is only a minor issue - I also hold LH SEN status, so e.g. lounge-access is no tangible benefit.

So what would you do: Stick with Platinum, or go for 1K?

Thanks for any suggestions you may have!

Greetings - Dirk