I'm just about to move from Silver to Gold for the first time . I've just gone over 900 points and my status on the website has changed to "Pending tier status: Gold". I have a few questions:

• It says on the website that this will become effective within the next 7 business days. In the real world, does this mean 2-3 days, or is 7 days more likely?
• Why isn't it instant? I understand that printing a new card and luggage tags takes some time, but I don't see why all the soft stuff like RUs and Koru aren't processed as soon as the threshold is reached.
• When I am cleared as Gold, will I be able to do Seat Select for free on the flights I already have booked? And will it open up the frequent flyer seats at the front of the aircraft?