There are many ways to split properties, but of the brands that are supposed to upgrade, there are essentially two kinds:

• Those that see upgrades, F&B credits, etc., as losing money - giving away things that the guest would otherwise definitely have paid for, and therefore to be avoided at all costs; and
• Those that see upgrades, F&B credits, etc., as their competitive advantage - a relatively cheap way to get loyal guests through the door, who would otherwise have saved $20 by staying in the Holiday Inn, etc.

Basically, it depends on whether their strategy is to squeeze out the last penny when they've "caught" a guest, or whether the strategy is to keep the guest's money flowing into room rates, dinner, etc. by making the whole experience as seamless as possible. It doesn't seem to matter which end of the market these properties are, either; I can think of properties that deploy each strategy that are otherwise very similar in terms of price, geographic market, etc.