How much of a step up is platinum from gold?

[Cessna 180]

I have been silver for many years and gold last year courtesy of some Qantas status crossover. I cannot say I noticed much difference between gold and Silver.

This year, I am now close to gold already courtesy of an unexpected couple of weeks in Perth.

Most of my stays are Ibis/Mantra/Sebel. Some of them do not have restaurant and I am not aware of any that have a lounge, so I am undecided if the benefit of paying $360 is worth it for me as yet. Sebel Perth for example, has no bar or restaurant, so welcome drink is a bottle of water or coke etc......

Are the free breakfast any good?

Anyway, main point of confusion is:
If I decided to go for platinum courtesy of the ALL explorer, is the best time to buy that sometime between gold being achieved and year end? That way the 30 nights would take my tally to 60+ and then I have platinum until the end of next year?

 

[Seat0B]

Yes that's right. Your status is assessed each year on 31 December and whatever you have achieved by then, you get for the following year. If you achieve platinum any earlier than 31 December, you have it from the date of achievement to 31 December (assessment date) and then for the following year. So the earlier in the calendar year you reach platinum, the better for you.

The free breakfasts vary a little but are generally excellent - being literally "go to breakfast in the restaurant like everyone else, eat whatever you want, but don't pay" in places with no lounge. If there is a lounge, sometimes they let you choose between the restaurant and the lounge, and sometimes they require you to eat in the lounge. Lounge breakfasts are the biggest wild card in my experience. Some are terrific - special dishes not on the standard menu, bubbles in the cooler and a pretty decent buffet, some are a bit more limited than the standard restaurant buffet but still generally good enough for free.

Another benefit of platinum at breakfast is that you will often get barista coffee for free with your breakfast, although some places are apparently starting to charge - has not yet happened to me.

 

[MSAstro]

I book the lowest grade room that I am happy with and then if I get an upgrade, great! If not, I have a room that I am happy with.

For me, this is usually the second cheapest room - we tend to stay a few days in a single location and so I prefer a slightly bigger room over the very entry level of they have one. But if it's just an overnight, the cheapest room will do. I'd say my hit rate on getting an upgrade (some are real, some are just to a higher floor/better view) is realistically 80% of the time, I get an upgrade, and quite often it's a very nice upgrade too. I have noticed that if I ever use a Stay Plus night (ha, very hard to do), even if I use 1 might and stay for a week, I do not get any upgrade. So if that applies to you, it might be worth thinking it through when you book - is that OK? Should you book the Stay Plus 2 nights and then the rest of the nights separately and move in between? Would you be lucky enough to get upgraded if you did this?

Thanks to all for the responses, seems in line with my thinking - book what room I would be happy with (which is also usually a step up from the base room, same as Seat08) so that if worse comes to worse, I'll still be happy. And more importantly, the wife will be!

But good info around using Stay Plus and SNUs (which will be new to me), and the downsides of longer stays. Will keep all of this in mind.

 

[Cessna 180]

Yes that's right. Your status is assessed each year on 31 December and whatever you have achieved by then, you get for the following year. If you achieve platinum any earlier than 31 December, you have it from the date of achievement to 31 December (assessment date) and then for the following year. So the earlier in the calendar year you reach platinum, the better for you.

The free breakfasts vary a little but are generally excellent - being literally "go to breakfast in the restaurant like everyone else, eat whatever you want, but don't pay" in places with no lounge. If there is a lounge, sometimes they let you choose between the restaurant and the lounge, and sometimes they require you to eat in the lounge. Lounge breakfasts are the biggest wild card in my experience. Some are terrific - special dishes not on the standard menu, bubbles in the cooler and a pretty decent buffet, some are a bit more limited than the standard restaurant buffet but still generally good enough for free.

Another benefit of platinum at breakfast is that you will often get barista coffee for free with your breakfast, although some places are apparently starting to charge - has not yet happened to me.

Thankyou Seat0B, you have confirmed my understanding of how it works.

I guess I have three months to decide.

At this stage, I can not see that I will get ~$350 worth of benefit, but I will see.

Data point Re the 30% dining discount, Eatclub had 41% off at Per Novotel last week.

 

[Seat0B]

At this stage, I can not see that I will get ~$350 worth of benefit, but I will see.

Yes, I totally understand - the Explorer value is tied up in better room rates for members (supposed to be 15% off), "free" nights (Stay Plus, that I find hard to use, but your circumstances may vary) and the dining discount.

But if taking Explorer also gets you to Platinum, that also has some monetary value too, and this will depend where you tend to stay and how you travel. So the free breakfast is for anyone in you room - great value if travelling with a partner and even more value if you take kids or grandkids. There will most likely be room upgrades - which may be valued by you at $0 if you would not have paid for a better room than you booked, but which really do make your stay feel nicer. You will be able to get early check in and late check out, "subject to availability", but these benefits have been readily available to me, unlike the Stay Plus nights - and some have been spectacular like a 1100 check in and an 1800 check out. And if you stay at a property with a lounge, you will get several free drinks (or coffees) each night (for you and anyone else in your room) and at least snacks, but often enough for a light grazing dinner if you are not a big eater. Sometimes you can get cakes/pastries and coffees for afternoon tea too as a Platinum in a lounge. Plus as a Platinum member you earn more reward points per stay, and these have a pretty easy process to use points to pay for some or all of your stay costs.

Still, it can be a hard call unless you really know your upcoming travel intentions. I have definitely had a few years where Accor won the value proposition, but the last few years have been totally in my favour as I am travelling more, domestically and overseas and am more upfront in asking for my Platinum benefits than I once was.

 

[elanshin]

There is monetary value in the free stay nights. Currently this year I've used 1 stay night for $1300 value which basically paid for the membership 3 times by itself without any other consideration. Still have another one which i think im looking at around 300-500 atm.