Originally Posted by
uclabruin82
My general, very blanket-level statement, experience is that booking with a virtuoso TA is much more likely to result in an upgrade (and more often at time of booking), than FHR, but that FHR always gets the late check-out which can be important and a few times, primarily in the US, the breakfast credit is more inclusive. A couple of hotels I have stayed at the breakfast on the Virtuoso could not possibly have accommodated us in full.
I would argue you should always book through a TA that is affiliated with the hotel program and only Virtuoso as a secondary option, i.e. Hyatt Prive, FS PP, Rosewood Elite, MO Fan Club, Mariott Stars, Hilton Impresario who all receive upgrade priority.
Hyatt, in particular, provides the one cat upgrade at time of booking. Your TA's relationship with the property is the most important factor.