Welcome to FlyerTalk, as
madfish says, you've come to the right place!
Next, the inevitable caveat that all such "is it worth it" questions inevitably have a very personal element. For some people a single extra minute on a plane wouldn't be worth it, while many here will construct elaborate TP-optimised routings to get there at minimum cost.
Now, with that said, I can offer some personal perspective, as I made a specific effort [1] to hit Gold this year (coming from Silver) and I'm glad I did it. Some
personal reasons why I thought it worth it, but they may or may not apply to you:
- Most of my leisure flying is SH in Club Europe, I like being able to select Row 1 from the off and not have to try grab it later.
- All of my business flying is LH and usually involves a few hours connection at LHR. Galleries First is a nicer space than Galleries Club I think. Not a dramatic difference, but a step up.
- About 70% of my LH flights will be in WTP with a connection to LHR in ET. Seat blocking is working very well so far, better than when I was silver I think.
- The bonus Avios is very welcome.
- The First Wing is far preferable to flight connections (so far)
- My travel patterns can (and do) change so the "soft landing" was a consideration as well
Now none of those things may matter much to you. If I was based in London, mostly flying LH in J, I'd be somewhat less convinced. And as others have said, a lot will depend on how close you are to the magic 1500. But if I found myself within a cheap CE trip or 2, I'd go for it.
[1] As a
specific effort, it lacked a certain specificity since I find myself roughly one flight away from GUF2 territory by renewal. This place will do that to you....