I was in a similar situation being about 800 points short of qualifying for Platinum this year. The one trip left that I have this year wouldn't get me across the 10,000 mark. However, I have more than 5,000 flex points with about 1,000 expiring early next year so I went ahead and burned them to get past the 10,000 point mark. I don't expect anything more than being a bit closer to the top of the upgrade list for an upgrade that I most likely won't get, and maybe a bit better award seat availability.