Originally Posted by billdokes

Well I do think it's an excuse because I've managed to plow through those excuses on MANY occasions:

- 'Oh sorry Mr. Dokes, we are sold out of suites today'...'Really, I see here on the App you still have A, B, C suites available for sale'...often results in an immediate UG, sometimes after a trip to the back office

- 'Oh yes Mr. Dokes, I see that as well, but those rooms aren't cleaned yet'...'Really, that's ok, I'll wait, I can go have a bite to eat or a drink somewhere, can you check with housekeeping to see when they might be ready?' - often results in an immediate UG after a call to housekeeping and sometimes a temporary card to access the lounge or a free drink ticket

I can probably keep going, but I hope you get my point...

Upgrades at check-in are supposed to be based on availability at the time "I" check-in, not based on the number of Elites they are expecting that day or any other reason...if the room is available for sale, it should be available for UG at check-in...if I check-in as a LTT and there's an Ambassador in line directly behind me, then I should get the UG, not the Ambassador member.

I do understand that multi-day reservations can present issues, which is why I generally book back-to-back-to-back reservations...maximizes my chances of getting an UG on night one and they are less likely to move me on subsequent nights once I'm situated.

If the property has pre-allocated UG's prior to check-in to Ambassadors or Titanium's or whatever status, they are taken out of inventory so they are not available for sale and ergo cannot be seen as available for sale at the time I'm checking in.

So again, I stand by my point that there are some pretty weak "excuses" offered as some properties are wired to not honour the T's&C's, or at least the spirit of the UG benefit for Elites, for whatever reason, but probably most likely because they a) want to sell the higher revenue rooms, which if they are close to capacity is possible later in the day or b) they don't want to incur the potential extra cost of having to clean the bigger room/suite or c) they just don't really care about living to the 'Customer Promise' that is set out in the Bonvoy program for Elite Members.

Again, bottom line for me is to know what they have available to sell and push through to get what I want or believe I'm entitled to based on all the time and $$ I've invested in Marriott over the years. Success rate when the facts are in my favour is over 95% over a LOT of years. Oh, and I ALWAYS maintain a polite, just the facts, but firm approach...not angry, not irate, no DYKWIA...and I do sometimes offer in a humorous way "I'm totally ok if you have to disappoint someone else to please me", it usually draws a chuckle and diffuses any tension in the conversation.