Originally Posted by
atflyer
Hm questions is what you want to do longer term. ME of course has SV and a few other ST members. If you don't see yourself maintaining Gold longer term or using your miles, now spending 40k on donations for the 1-2 flights you may still do with ST for the perks may be worth it. But Fabo is right, 40k miles can be 400 Euro if you play it right, and if you can do one cheapish run for 200 Euro that is more cost effective
While the run might seem like a no-brainer if you are near an airport, if you need to pay for travel to and from an airport, pay for parking, pay for other expenses for a 'day out' there may not be as much cost difference between the two plans as it seems. So it may only be worth it if you have some plan of value at the destination.
Donating miles is much better than just losing them, and keeping gold would also keep the remaining points alive a year longer than otherwise if no ST travel will happen.