Thanks to all for your great ideas. As I was reading, I have another question--has anyone gone from Silver one year to Platinum the next, and aside from the mile bonuses, are the perks worth the effort?

I'll make Silver easily, but would have to put in some time, effort and about 3K extra to be platinum. I'm interested to see whether others think it's worth it. I probably fly 1-2 times a month.