Nothing tone deaf here. I know you spout that you used/use Accor. What I don't get is the treatment you have received and well what I have been getting instead. I had many memorable stays with Accor and if I was not being upgraded over 70-80% of the time i would be getting grumpy. But in the main I am getting it all. I have 4 super upgrades in the past 3 years to presidential suites/penthouses without the need to pay extra but complimentary from just rooms I booked. So maybe if you know it all then you can explain why I seem to do far better off than you do. And no I don't believe I have low expectations.
While I have no plans I wouldn't mind trying out Banff springs. I have seen the pricing and its not that Expensive. In my case i will always book the Gold room as I will want lounge access and quite often i book rooms in Sofitel's with the lounge access anyway like the junior/prestige suite.
Maybe you cringe at the thought of masses of Accor plat members enter the holy ground of fairmont and getting the same privileges. Also there is maybe a reason why guaranteed suite upgrades can no longer work because the membership will be far much bigger. All the best hotels in the Accor group (including fairmont) will get flooded with guaranteed suite upgrade requests. Because anyone with the right mind would only use these suite upgrades at the very best hotels as that is where the best value is..Do I wish for suite upgrades certs? Well why not of course. But i can possibly see a reason as well why it might be difficult to implement or maybe they just offer 1 cert per year instead of the 2 per year?