Originally Posted by DJ_Iceman

One personal anecdote for what it's worth:

..............

Was that suite available when I walked up to the front desk? Almost certainly. But it was only through being human, and treating the front desk associate like a human, that I ended up with that upgrade. And whether or not that's how the system is SUPPOSED to work, it's simply how it DOES work in the real world. Had I been a pompous, self-absorbed DYKWIA who bragged about my ambassador status, tried to demand free Club access, etc., I would have gotten the "premium" room upgrade and that's it.