I'm an expat living in Dubai and fly Emirates for business and pleasure. I currently have Gold Status with about 134,000 miles and need an additional 16,000 by the end of September to reach Platinum. I'm wondering what the value of Platinum over Gold is, I know the "by the book" value, 1st Class Lounge and check-in, 25% more skywards miles, etc, but what are your thoughts on upgrade probabilities, I fly biz for business and typically coach (and upgrade w/ miles for personal), so how often would I get a "free" upgrade to business or first? My most common destinations are NYC and London. In order to reach Platinum, I'd have to do a mileage run which would cost about $3,000, then I'd be Platinum for the next 13 months. I just returned from my first coach flight on Emirates and while it was better than the US airlines coach product, I'd certainly prefer to avoid it going forward.

Thanks for any thoughts and insights.