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I'm not the person you were replying to, but I've certainly stayed 100++ nights with IHG over the last dozen years, but only one of those nights was at an IC (on points, in Rome at the Spanish Steps) Mostly they were HIs, HIXs, Candlewood, Staybridge, and I think CP even only once or twice.

The distribution of brands depends where you stay. Stay in the center of a lot of big cities, and you'll find a lot of ICs and CPs. But stay in the suburbs, or in smaller cities/towns, and you're hardly ever find an IC, rarely find a CP, but you'll find tons of HIs and HIXs (and in the USA often Candlewood and/or Staybridge too).

But I thought RA was for IC only??? So what good would RA be for someone who mostly stays in suburbs or smaller cities/towns?

And btw upgrades are either rarer or less obvious (just a nicer side of the building or such, rather than an obviously superior room) at Candlewood and Staybridge and at many HI and HIX (that are low on suites) than at CP and IC (and those HIs or HIXs that have lots of suites). So the same brand distribution could account for different upgrade experiences.

In my case, there's an HIX I stayed at a bunch of times which only has 3 suites in the whole hotel. So they did upgrade me occasionally, but on only on a tiny fraction of stays.