I was Gold for early 2002 until GGL was rolled out in 2007 and then dropped down to LTG in 2016

Really don’t see much difference in how I am treated now v 2002/2003 - staff are largely indifferent to your status save the odd gesture (eg a bottle of water in WT+). IRROPS handling is as flaking unpredictable as ever and waivers/favours weren’t freely available then either (though less controls meant good members of staff could work miracles).

You could argue that ability to pre-allocate exit rows, tactical seating etc have actually increased the utility of Gold!