Originally Posted by turnips

That's good to hear, I was thinking I was having a bad run of it
And sure, I checked in for a four night stay at an Intercontinental in Tokyo and requested an extra night as the purpose of my stay had changed. Front desk instantly rebuffed as they were full. I wasn't fully aware of the benefit so I went to my room and returned later to speak to a supervisor who said the same thing. When I mentioned the benefit I was told along the lines of "it's full so there's nothing we can do". It was my understanding given it was >72 hours until 'check in' that I could utilise the benefit then. I gave res a call and didn't get anywhere either, so I went and stayed somewhere else for the final night.
My stays have all been at Intercontinentals, and the hotel I frequent on a week/fortnightly basis is a Voco - that was the only hotel that gave me an upgrade, and coincidentally on the last of a long string of bookings (when I'd decided it was no longer worth it to stay there, and return to my old regular in that city).