After OnePass announced that members who had actually flown 50,000 miles would be advanced to Platinum a couple of months ago I asked a OnePass supervisor: How many Gold Elites are there out there who have not met the published requirements?
The answer that I was given was a lot. many "almost but not quite" qualifiers are offered "Buy-ups" which, I was told, might involve 15,000 miles and $150 cash.
I imagine that they do some sophisticated computer tracking of those travelers who pay the high fares to determine who gets offered what.