Originally Posted by MikeBOS
You missed nothing other than maybe a free bottle of water. IME, most Starwoods don't even bother putting SPG guests on SPG floors any more; it seems pretty much random. And as many have written here, upgrades for Golds in the US seem to occur with about the same frequency as upgrades for non-SPG members.
The bottom line is that most of the time, Gold does nothing to get you a better room, though some have reported luck by putting an explicit upgrade request in the comments field when reserving online.
The requests go through without having to put it in the comments, although making a remark about it doesn't hurt.
The trick with gold upgrades is to show up early, and ask if they can put you up somewhere. If they have space plus a few extra rooms, they'll do it. Otherwise, if there are a few rooms left, it won't happen. It's capacity controlled.
The adage "upgrades for Golds in the US seem to occur with about the same frequency as upgrades for non-SPG members" is true, only that as a Gold, I can ask and not feel like sleaze bag, being that Golds are entitled to an upgrade.
I'm 3/6 on gold upgrades to club this year, FYI.