Originally Posted by
The Road Goes On Forever
3. The same as any reservation, no.
Perhaps its just a coincidence based on where I wind up on vacation (and thus more likely to use points) but I've had much better upgrades on points stays than any revenue stat (2/4 "best hotel room I've ever had" were on points stays with Hilton -- one at a now-deflagged property in Melbourne (AUS, not FL), one just last week in Mexico City (the other 2 were suites in a Hyatt and Fairmount, cash and my only stays with those brands so far)
Originally Posted by
Schnit
An advance upgrade I would imagine would open up additional base rooms, which hotels are probably more likely to sell. The more rooms sold, the more money they get for the points reservation. So if they are nearing capacity, there could be some financial advantage to upgrading
Intelligent hotel RM manages inventory much the way airlines manage seat inventory -- they will sell the base room to close to number that equals all available rooms, e.g. if you have 100 base rooms and 20 unsold suites the hotel may be willing to sell 115 base rooms knowing that they can move people up without actually having to move anyone up until day of arrival (much like the 'operational upgrade' or op-up that airlines will use to solve an inventory problem when economy is full but business isn't.
That said, since January 1st I have noticed a dramatic upswing in upgrades, and messaging re: those upgrades in the app.