Originally Posted by
Beckles
Since Royal Ambassador's are guaranteed upgrades, I actually don't understand the issue (which is different than other hotel chains which base upgrades on availability).
But if you aren't RA, that's where the fear is.
Originally Posted by
Beckles
Just like the
Hilton Nor1 thread, we have a lot of FUD in this thread already.
Wrong, there is no 'on the spot upgrade', as the name 'eStandby' clearly implies, it is a standby for an upgrade.
Oops, you're right. Thanks for the correction.
Originally Posted by
Beckles
I have received suite upgrades at a number of hotels that offer Nor1 with both Hilton and Hyatt, this claim that they are "gone" is false in my experience.
I have seen absolutely no proof it takes upgrade discretion away from hotels.
I don't think I implied "gone", but implied more difficult to come by. I say this from personal experience as my upgrades seemed sub-par at Nor1 hotels where I clearly declined anything but the free upgrade. My simple statement is that in the past hotels would allow better upgrades than a higher floor room or something like that. Now they clearly delineate those a step above the "upgradeable" rooms, so are more firm in not giving those better rooms out.
Hotels yes still have that discretion, but are much more likely to not give it out.
Originally Posted by
Beckles
As much as I like free upgrades, I do not begrudge hotels for trying to sell them before giving them away for free. What I could see taking an issue with is if they were selling the upgrades at very low prices, but I have not seen that myself with the hotels I've stayed at that used Nor1.
I've read the Hilton thread, and there is nothing in that thread that proves there has been a decrease in upgrades for elite members, it is a lot of speculation with the occasional report of folks receiving complimentary upgrades despite Nor1, and folks not receiving upgrades, which happened before Nor1 too.
I don't begrudge them either, I'm just saying that upgrades seem to be worse as a result of Nor1. The nor1 thread itself is quite short, but if you've been on the HH thread for awhile you'll see a lot of Nor1 references in other threads where people complain about upgrades. I agree there is no proof, but seems to be quite a bit of anecdotal evidence. Certainly it is not a hard rule, but it also makes sense that upgrades are harder to come by.
Originally Posted by
Beckles
In my personal experience, sometimes I still get free upgrades at Nor1 hotels ... sometimes I don't, it's hardly different than my experience at any given hotel before Nor1.
Considering I have used Nor1 at hotels on a couple of occasions, I just don't see the big deal, it gives hotels another avenue to sell upgraded rooms. Expecting a hotel to not try and sell upgrade rooms before handing them out for free is not reasonable in my opinion.
Go sell them. But when I check in at 3pm and you still haven't sold them, it'd be nice to have a real upgrade versus a room with a "better view" or farther away from the elevator. Again, Nor1 just allows them to make more stronger classifications in rooms and allows them to give out a semi-category higher upgrade instead of real upgrades.