Originally Posted by
alaskan9974
Just wondering what real world benefits there really are to the platinum status, I have had 7 or 8 stays this year and I don't see any benefit or change, upgrades etc. since being upgraded from lowly gold last year, aside from the occasional snack upon check in, what am I missing? I do like the United status but I don't fly them too often. All of my stays are through work, but last year I did have 25-30 from holiday.
You do get extra points for the stay, as well as the Platinum arrival gift. I do notice a higher upgrade rate than from when I was Gold, but that was some years ago and the upgrade rate is much higher on shorter stays.
Probably the most significant difference, in my opinion, is the Platinum override, which will often let you book a room at hotels that will show no rooms available to Gold and below. You get rack rate, but you can usually get a room.
I have used the override a couple of times, but I would probably not do a mattress run to get from Gold to Platinum if I still had to worry about that.