I just recently joined FT, and am glad to see such an active community of travel veterans sharing their stories.

I was invited to take part in the SPG double-stay promotion last quarter, and as a result, I achieved Platinum status back in May. Although it's kinda cool, I'm not sure exactly why everyone seems to think it's REALLY cool.

I've stayed about 3 times since achieving Platinum status...but I don't think I've been upgraded (if I have, I haven't really noticed a difference in the quality). I've stay at the Westin Seattle and the Sheraton Bellevue...the rooms I'm getting now are about the same as I was getting before.

The Platinum check-in amenity was my choice of: a) $10 of free snacks from the minibar, b) some discount (can't remember) for spa treatments, or c) 500 SPG points. While nice...$10 of minibar snacks is about 1-1.5 items (seriously), and they're mostly not very healthy, and I don't really use the spa, so I just take the points.

I earn bonus points at a rate of 150%--but that's the same as I was earning when I was Gold, so that doesn't really feel like a step up.

I *DO* get a WSJ in addition to USAT in front of my room every morning...I guess that's nice, but...I actually would prefer to skip the newspaper service to save some trees (I've called the frontdesk to cancel that on multiple occasions, BTW, but they keep bringing them anyway).

So what am I missing? Do I have to specifically ask for a room upgrade or do something to invoke the magic of Platinum-icity? A few people on here have even talked about buying SVO shares in order to achieve Platinum for life...although I'm interested in SVO, I can't imagine paying those kind of prices for a $10 mini bar snack when you visit. There must be more to it...?

Don't get me wrong, I really like Starwood properties, and I'm glad to have the opportunity to achieve Platinum status...but I guess I was expecting more, based on the marketing...?