I applied back in March when my job required me to do SFO-MSP twice a month. I was 1K on United and sent in my history of flight activity to the NW fax number they provided. Within 4 days, I received an email saying that Platinum is never matched, but they would be happy to make me gold. I got a new card within a few days. In August, after 14 SFO-MSP legs, I got another letter welcoming me to NW Platinum. I did not fly enough segments/miles so I believe they look at the matches and upgrade you if you are consistantly flying the airline. That has been my experience. I prefer NW to UA since you do not have to use upgrades to upgrade, it just automatically happens. It's a great system. Too bad there is no non-stop NW SFO-ORD flight ;-)