Originally Posted by
JBord
I'll probably move from Gold to Plat later this year as well. As I've said in the other thread, there's really very little difference, even before the latest change. I haven't changed an award ticket as Gold, Plat, or 1K. But I suspect this isn't the last devaluation for Plats. I'll bet anyone here a dollar that they drop down behind 1k's for boarding by the end of 2017.
I look at Gold and Platinum as pretty much the same. Platinum has a few tiny extra benefits that most people don't use, but it's not something to chase, unless you're at 74,000 and can do a quick $100 trip in December.
Same here. I don't chase status levels, I just wind up where I wind up after taking the flights I want to take. Due to a combination of fare differences, strikes and where I needed to fly, I just happened to go up from Gold to Plat this year by flying more on UA than AF and will be well over 1K by the end of the year. As someone who flies international for work several times a year, I am just looking for the cheapest way to get into business class. The move from Gold to Plat was not really noticeable. The 2 RPUs were nice, but I probably would have either done a TOD upgrade or done without on domestic flights. I will probably be able to use the GPUs, but they won't open up any more R space than I just could have gotten with miles. (Actually, the one thing that could make me chase status would be to open up more upgrade space earlier to higher level elites). I will check out if there is PN class on any flights next year that might make buying M attractive, but I don't fly on many award tickets, so I don't think I will find 1K to be something worth going out of my way to get.