I've been gold for many years, and this year I have the opportunity to move up to Platinum if I book an unnecessary segment on my last flight of the year. The cost would be ~$150 plus the connection hassle. I rarely travel with more than one companion or bag, domestic upgrades are a joke for even 1Ks on my common routes, and I already have a lounge membership thru my credit card. So the only benefit I'm really seeing is the 40 plus points. On the surface, those seem valuable and worth the mentioned hassle... curious if others think so.

I see that GS/1K have a skip the waitlist option, and I'm having a hard time understanding if there is ever a circumstance where a Platinum can book themselves directly into Polaris with plus points. If I'm flexible on dates, and basically searching for ORD-Europe, am I ever going to find a Polaris seat I can just book, or is it always waitlist and pray? My only personal experience is being gifted plus points from a GS friend, and he cleared them instantly for me, but I'm not expecting Plats to have the same experience.

I think I'm good company here when I say I'm not going to fly over an ocean in the back, so I'm not willing to take a waitlist option. Only having 40 plus points means I'll also have to subject myself to expensive one way fares to make sure I'm the front *both* ways. I guess I could also try to use them on a longer domestic routes, but meh, and seems its still hard to clear them...

Thoughts? Any current Platinums have success stories?