United successfully got me to pay $600 to buy up to gold status

I’ve been 1k for the past 6 years, but last year I didn’t travel as often and got silver.

I got my offer to “buy up” to gold stars for $580, and figured the benefits would be worth it, as I may be doing a bit of travel this year, some international.

So basically I paid $600 to have the benefit of economy+ seating at booking (versus day of) and gold star alliance status (which gives me lounge access when flying internationally), and group 1 boarding (I have storage space anxiety)

I feel like a sucker

Edit: I was $400 away from making gold in 2024. I know I probably could have done that in a flight, but didn’t have availability to do so