I've been upgraded twice since turning Gold back in September and both times I made no requests at all for an upgrade either in my reservation or upon checkin. It was already done before I checked in. Now I will mention that both times were at Hiltons in Canada, not the US.

The one time that I did stay at a Hilton in the US, since making Gold, I had already booked a room on the Exec Floor. I wasn't paying for it and I wanted to make sure that I got the better room. However, I will mention that they still did do extra things for me, including giving both me and a colleague (who wasn't gold and wasn't on the Exec floor) coupons for breakfast in the resturant and a free drink the night of our arrival.