Suites are, of course, excluded at all properties, not just RI. But the OP didn't describe what sort of upgrade he/she was interested in and I thought it painting with an overly broad brush to say that ALL upgrades were excluded, rather than upgrades to one and two bedroom suites. Again, there may be situations at particular properties where one seeks an upgrade based on something other than room configuration. Whatever the case, the answer given by the property to the request, as reported by the OP, was inaccurate (per the rules) and inappropriate. The rules provide no nexus between rate paid and upgrades.