In my view unlikely, but very much down to your personal circumstances. The hotel statuses (SPG Gold, Club Carlson Gold, Le Club Plat, with Hilton Gold on it's way), and lounge entry could in themselves justify the £450 fee. Then there's the 30,000 (35K with referral) bonus points, which compares favourably to the 20,000 bonus points (22K with referral) for the Gold card. However, given that the statuses above are of little use to me (as I already hold them or better), the Plat card is of very limited extra value to me compared to the Gold card, which is free for the first year and £140 thereafter (or free forever if you hold it for a year, cancel, wait 6 months and then reapply...) Personally, I am a Gold churner on the basis that I like to hang on to the card for the full year, for free. I would not hold on to the Plat card when paying £450 a year. The Gold also comes with a bonus 10K points if you spend £15k in a year on it. The above said, I have a friend who does a "smash and grab" on the bonus points for the Plat every year - signs up, gets the massive haul of bonus points then cancels for a refund of the £450 fee. Then signs up again 6 months later. Personally, as someone who likes to keep the card for the full year, I find the Gold card preferable, although I should reiterate that I never pay £140 for it. I sign up, get the bonus, hold it for a year then cancel. Then six months later I reapply. I hope that makes some sense! It's quite a "technical" area, not least because everyone is different in their existing statuses, priorities etc. Feel free to send me a private message if you want to discuss further. If you want a short answer, it's no - get the Gold
Pretty much the conclusion I came to was Gold although I had contemplated doing what your pal is doing to get the sign up points!
