Originally Posted by
littlevoices
The only missing element is where you are staying - in the US you can get Platinum with a credit card and there are a lot of status members, so that makes your gold status pretty worthless (sorry, Hilton gold would at least get you a breakfast). If you stay in Asia, outside of China, then you may be more pleasantly surprised by the potential for upgrades as there are fewer members with status and hotels do try to treat elite guests better.
True. Also consider the individual property. I'm a Bangkok habitué. Here there are some hotels where it's extremely difficult to receive an upgrade, not because the hotel is stingy, but because some hotels are extremely popular, especially with elites. And there are other hotels where it's much more likely that one will be upgraded.