Originally Posted by
StayingHomeIsBetter
Even making allowance for your intentional hyperbole, you are still missing (or, perhaps, avoiding) the point.
Hilton promises the potential for space available upgrades for those who qualify for elite status through giving Hilton vast amounts of business.
The NOR1 program seeks to make space available upgrades unavailable by selling them to, presumably, even non-status customers.
To use your example, someone who stays at a Hilton one night per year, and pays $9 for the upgrade gets a better room than a Diamond who stays 80 or 90 nights per year at Hilton properties based, in part, upon the promise that he could receive the space available upgrade.
One one hand, Hilton has a pleased one-time-per-year customer, and $9 more in the till.
One the other hand, they have just irritated a customer that spends (or, previously spent) 25% of his lifetime sleeping with his head on a Hilton pillow... and now may seek other options in the future.
...
Hmm I get that you and other people don't like this programme, but you never get a htoel upgrade "confirmed" in advance unless you are willing to pay for it (as I have periodically done with redemption stays etc. agreeing an additional nightly room rate to get the room I really want.
So if you don't want to pay for an upgrade (and again I get you don't) and you know the policy that upgrades depend upon available space at the time of check in then you agree to roll the dice. You can't complain just because the dice aren't loaded in your favour I think. Hotels have a range of much more opaque ways of restricting available capacity (e.g. giving free upgrades to conference organisers and guests, local understandings with property specific frequent customers etc.) that you will never know about, the only "new" thing about e-standby is that it is transparent.
Personally I don't see there is any cost. As a Diamond I will always get lounge access where it is available (most Exec rooms are exactly the same as non Exec rooms and the lounge is the only effective difference). As a Diamond I have no reasonable right to expect an upgrade beyond an Exec room (again it is nice when it happens but I don't expect it and thus I am rarely disappointed). As a Diamond I know I have a free breakfast. So what do I typically lose as a result of someone paying a few $ for an upgrade? Very little in my view apart perhaps from slightly more people in a lounge.
Without E-Standby infrequent guests can trump Diamonds for upgrades. If I book a $20k conference or event, I expect to get a very decent room, if I don't I will go to a property that will give me this. Should this trump a frequent guest (absolutely it should). I still think the game here is always that an upgrade is on a space available basis none of us can really complain that available upgrade space is deliberately being reduced to increase property revenue, it has always happened it is just now happening in new forms. I think almost all of my Hilton stays this year have been at NOR1 properties and where I haven't opted to upgrade to a room via e-Standby I have still got the room type I would expect as a HH DIA. You obviously disagree but I can only speak for myself and I don't really find it rational.