Originally Posted by
arlflyer
Agree with Wally, plus one addendum - have a dummy booking queued you in the app when you walk to the desk. Like for your exact nights, with results showing. That way you have what is needed to call them out when they pull the “We are booked solid” line - “Oh really, that is interesting, I see five categories of suites for sale on the nights I’ll be staying.” It isn’t the friendliest approach, but neither is them lying to you. It often leads to an embarrassed agent, a discussion with a manager, and an upgrade.
I've always wanted to try it but I've never had the stones to. Then again I seem to have slightly better luck with upgrades since my stays are shorter and on slower days. My usual "upgrade" at non Euro/Asian properties is an executive room. But in countries like China and Canada I get a suite upgrade almost every time. It really does have a lot to do with a specific property and I typically won't stay at properties that have a history of that BS approach to upgrades.