Originally Posted by
lowfareair
Not being near an elevator can be considered an "upgrade". Being on the second story of a 2 floor Comfort Inn can be considered an "upgrade".
And that is different than typical HHonors upgrade at a Hampton or HGI exactly how???
Originally Posted by
lowfareair
Given the expansion of Cambria/Ascend plus repositioning Comfort Inn/Suites & Sleep Inn to a slightly higher end level as well, I'd think they would be adding benefits to better compete with IHG & Hilton.
How are their benefits not already competitve with IHG?
IHG has no upgrade benefit at all! It's totally up to the hotel whether they give any benefits to elites (and only some fraction do, requiring much research to figure out if a hotel you're considering booking does).
IMHO IHG is not competitve with Hilton HHonors on benefits. Hilton HHonors gives free breakfast, free internet, and some sort of upgrade to Golds (mid tier), while IHG gives none of that (program-wdie) to Platinum (top tier).