Fairmont President's Club - Standby Upgrades

Didn't see anything on here about the new standby upgrade option. Kind of interesting, and I actually clicked on it for my next two stays. It would, however, be helpful if they could make the standby upgrade payable by coupon as well.

Will see what they actually do with my selection. It's odd, because as Plat at Marriott I am so used to getting upgrades to whatever they have (incl. suites at alot of properties) without having to beg, borrow, or steal (or pay for) them...

Didn't see anything on here about the new standby upgrade option. Kind of interesting, and I actually clicked on it for my next two stays. It would, however, be helpful if they could make the standby upgrade payable by coupon as well.

Will see what they actually do with my selection. It's odd, because as Plat at Marriott I am so used to getting upgrades to whatever they have (incl. suites at alot of properties) without having to beg, borrow, or steal (or pay for) them...

What do you mean by "payable by coupon"? Do you mean the regular upgrade certs we receive? The great thing about those (compared with most other loyalty programs) is that the upgrades are confirmed at time of booking.

The e-standby upgrades were introduced about a year ago IIRC and usually are a pretty good deal, typically a 50% discount on the premium between the two BAR rates.

What do you mean by "payable by coupon"? Do you mean the regular upgrade certs we receive? The great thing about those (compared with most other loyalty programs) is that the upgrades are confirmed at time of booking.

The e-standby upgrades were introduced about a year ago IIRC and usually are a pretty good deal, typically a 50% discount on the premium between the two BAR rates.

Right, but the vouchers don't allow, for instance, upgrade from regular to gold rooms.

Didn't see anything on here about the new standby upgrade option. Kind of interesting, and I actually clicked on it for my next two stays. It would, however, be helpful if they could make the standby upgrade payable by coupon as well.

Will see what they actually do with my selection. It's odd, because as Plat at Marriott I am so used to getting upgrades to whatever they have (incl. suites at alot of properties) without having to beg, borrow, or steal (or pay for) them...

Did you have a look at the URL and did it say NOR1? Both Hyatt and Hilton use this company to sell space available upgrades that are only confirmed at the time of check in. As a top tier with both these two (+ some others and lifetime PLT Fairmont) I have found it (http://loyaltylobby.com/2012/04/22/hilton-hhonors-custom-upgrades-nor1-and-guaranteed-upgrades-using-points/) to be complete waste of money.

Did you have a look at the URL and did it say NOR1? Both Hyatt and Hilton use this company to sell space available upgrades that are only confirmed at the time of check in. As a top tier with both these two (+ some others and lifetime PLT Fairmont) I have found it (http://loyaltylobby.com/2012/04/22/hilton-hhonors-custom-upgrades-nor1-and-guaranteed-upgrades-using-points/) to be complete waste of money.

No it's Fairmont directly. However, both properties I requested paid upgrades for just gave me those at no extra charge...

I've never even received a standby upgrade offer before.

No it's Fairmont directly. However, both properties I requested paid upgrades for just gave me those at no extra charge...

I haven't seen this on Fairmont, but with Hilton/Hyatt the Nor1 ones are "branded" as if they would come from the property in question, but you can see on the URL that it is actually Nor1.

What were the properties that were offering these paid upgrades? The word estandby is exactly the one used by the Nor1.

Fairmont's upgrades are handled by Nor1. The Fairmont offers I've received in the past show a fairmont URL initially, but when you make selections the confirmation URL where you can edit selections is Nor1.

I'm testing a theory with these on my latest Fairmont stay coming up next week and will let the board know how it goes when I return. If it works like I think it will it could be very useful at the right properties.

I haven't seen this on Fairmont, but with Hilton/Hyatt the Nor1 ones are "branded" as if they would come from the property in question, but you can see on the URL that it is actually Nor1.

What were the properties that were offering these paid upgrades? The word estandby is exactly the one used by the Nor1.

I was offered upgrades at frontenac and Reine Elisabeth but never at Tremblant.

Fairmont's upgrades are handled by Nor1. The Fairmont offers I've received in the past show a fairmont URL initially, but when you make selections the confirmation URL where you can edit selections is Nor1.

I'm testing a theory with these on my latest Fairmont stay coming up next week and will let the board know how it goes when I return. If it works like I think it will it could be very useful at the right properties.

Well it didn't work like I had hoped so never mind. The prices and status change on the nor1 page if your reservation is modified. So after you book and have your suite upgrades applied the price for the upgrade you selected changes on the nor1 page. I had hoped this would be a way to get a cheaper upgrade, but the original price still applies. The hotel doesn't see the changed price, just the original. Keep this in mind if you plan to use standby.

Well it didn't work like I had hoped so never mind. The prices and status change on the nor1 page if your reservation is modified. So after you book and have your suite upgrades applied the price for the upgrade you selected changes on the nor1 page. I had hoped this would be a way to get a cheaper upgrade, but the original price still applies. The hotel doesn't see the changed price, just the original. Keep this in mind if you plan to use standby.

Hotels didn't even mention it upon checkin. Invisible upgrade requests!

Well it didn't work like I had hoped so never mind. The prices and status change on the nor1 page if your reservation is modified. So after you book and have your suite upgrades applied the price for the upgrade you selected changes on the nor1 page. I had hoped this would be a way to get a cheaper upgrade, but the original price still applies. The hotel doesn't see the changed price, just the original. Keep this in mind if you plan to use standby.

This is then different than how it works with Hilton. The price of higher upgrades keeps going lower the further they upgrade you prior to your stay. These Nor1 upgrades need to be requested at least a day before your stay.