Based out of SEA. Been banned from AMEX because they are a bunch of xxxxxxxx because of that this will be my last year of gaming status, no more AMEX to hack my way to DL status.

I am at 70k MQMs now so will get Gold till Jan 2025, have a last minute possibility to get another 5k MQM by spending about 90k miles on a family trip to get Platinum (it's either spend 90k DL miles or 90k UA miles for that trip). Should I do it? The only benefit for Platinum useful for me is the ability to get C+ at the time of booking, that will give me another 2 years of C+ booking (both 2024 and 2025, if booked before losing status). With Gold, I lose C+ booking after 2023.

Based on excess MQM to miles redemption, if I remain Gold, I will get 20k miles. If I go to Platinum, I will get 0 miles. So I have to spend the choice award on either 25k miles or RUCs. This is almost a wash from the miles perspective, and RUC may not be usable in 2024. Why? Most of my personal travel for 2024 are booked on AA/UA, as DL is not competitive on price. I will also switch to AA in 2024 and charge my spend there to get Plat (which gives MCE at time of booking!). I could use RUC for work travel, but I will likely fly AA now because I have no more AMEX cards, which means no lounge access. Lounge access is useful for me to take meetings before I fly out.

Is there a case to get the extra 5k MQMs to get Plat till Jan 2025?