jeffandnicole

I still have never seen someone suggest what the appropriate response should be in the event they're not going to upgrade your room. What do you want to hear, since 'we are sold out' is not acceptable?

Then you should book the suite or upgraded room. If they upgrade you beyond that, great. But you should always book the room you want, and not count on upgrades to get to that room.

arlflyer

I don't think it's what people want to hear; it's what they don't want to hear. "We are sold out" is not acceptable when they're not sold out. I mean, it's lying. If you had an employee, and you asked them to do something, and they said "I can't, I'm out sick" and they were not sick, is that not an issue to you?


Ahh, the old "loyalty programs shouldn't have any benefits" slash "hotels are doing you a favor" argument.

The problem is, customers "count[ed] on upgrades" when they made the educated decision to pursue loyalty with a chain. And I can guarantee you that the hotels "count[ed] on upgrades" as having sway with said customers and enticing them to pursue the hotels' loyalty programs.

Points Scrounger

For you people who believe in escalating the situation, is it that the clerk (manager) suddenly announces, "Oh silly me! We DO have a suite for you!" I honestly would like details on the success of this approach.

elusive1

I would say about an 80% success rate at getting an improvement. Of course you would only complain if the hotel is not adhering to the spirit of the program by being dishonest about available rooms or giving a fake upgrade to a non existent class level. IMO, it should be 100% as you are trying to get what you are entitled to within the program.

For example, I recently checked into the Hilton in POS, Trinidad. I went through the usual dance when I received no upgrade.

"We have nothing available for upgrade"
I see here on your App that you are selling all levels
Huddle
"The App is wrong, we are sold out"
So if I booked one of these improved rooms, what would happen
huddle
" All these rooms are dirty and all cleaning staff went home for the night"
Gee, my associate just checked in and a maid was cleaning his room
huddle
"You will have to wait one hour while we prepare a room"
Fantastic, I'll be at the bar

5 minutes later they brought me a key to their version of a junior suite

Miesque

Maybe its just me, but I try to make my travel as enjoyable as possible and haggling to me is the opposite of enjoyable, let alone escalating it and making into a hostage negotiation. It should not be incumbent on me when checking in to make sure I am going to be the most obnoxious to be able to badger an upgrade.

arlflyer

Yes. Sometimes verbatim. I am not being sarcastic.


I'd say my numbers are similar.


100% agree and don't like the practice at all, but when it gets me a nice suite for 4 or 5 nights then I just suck it up and let the ends justify the means.

LucWise

Like others on this thread, I often check availability on the app for two reasons. 1) If I see that there are no better rooms available for sale, I know to temper my expectations for an upgrade. 2) If I see there ARE rooms for sale that would be an upgrade, I know to at least ask if I'm not upgraded.

I have found that the shorter the stay, the more likely the upgrade. That said, I have had success pushing back on the front desk agent for an upgrade.

If it's a very important stay, i.e. anniversary, birthday, etc., I often will write the GM in advance and politely explain the importance and stay I need to make sure this stay is extra special. I never ask for an upgrade or anything else, I just make them aware it's important. Most of the time, they take good care of you if they can.

Miesque

By the way, this thread reinforces two things for me. First, if a suite/junior suite is available for a reasonable price, I go ahead and book that instead of playing upgrade roulette. Second, I will go out of my way to patronage those hotels which have upgraded me nicely in the past.

craigthemif

Scanning through this thread reminds me of why I'm an ex-Diamond with Honors and a current Globalist with Hyatt and Platinum with SPG.

Other chains aren't immune to hotel shenanigans, but my upgrade ratio is clearly much higher at other chains so I choose to stay there. I presume that Honors and a large number of Hilton properties couldn't care less about that since there was so little effort made to give me a reason to become a repeat guest...

elusive1

Yes, it is demeaning

As is waiting at the gate for upgrades to clear.
As is using miles to fly first instead of my Am-Ex

Hyman Roth: This is the business we've chosen

bigbuy

You last sentence sums up exactly my thinking. It is why I always stay at the Hilton FRA airport hotel and the Hilton Bangkok.
It is also why I never returned to the Waldorf Cavalieri in Rome.

aww3583

Booked a 1K Junior Suite for 1-night stay recently. We've stayed at this property several times, and have been upgraded each time. We figured our chances for an upgrade were strong because it was the beginning of low season, we purchased a Junior Suite with cash, it was a 1-night stay, and several higher-level suites were still bookable the day of check-in.

We called prior to arrival and inquired about an upgrade. We specifically mentioned our stay history and our desire for one of the available suites. Without hesitation or clicking in their computer, the phone agent said "That suite is not available for upgrade. You're already in a suite."

While in line to check-in, I pulled up the HHonors app and the desired room was still available and bookable. During check-in, we inquired again, specifically mentioning the room we've had in the past and how much we enjoy it. Again, without hesitation or checking, the agent said "That room is not available for upgrade." I said "What is the cost to upgrade from my current room to that room? I'd like to pay cash." Again, without hesitation, the agent said "That's not possible. That room is not available."

The agent did "upgrade" us from a junior suite to a family suite. The family suite has bunk beds for kids, but since we weren't traveling with children, it provided no additional value to us.

I didn't want to make a scene at check-in, but the phone and desk agents appeared to be coached to not offer next-level-up upgrades. We understand, "want a suite, buy a suite", but the speed with which the agents responded was impressive.

arlflyer

That doesn't sound like much fun at all! But you gave it your best; likely not worth losing much sleep over. Given your past stay history and experience, a note/call to the GM would seem warranted. A public name-and-shame of the property would probably be appreciated to guide future purchase decisions by forum members if it turns out that this is a new policy.

As a side note, I appreciate your post in that I learned something new today - I had never heard of the family suites with bunk beds. I did a quick search now and was fascinated to see a number of Hilton properties with these in various family-heavy travel destinations. Better keep this quiet, though, lest employers get any ideas for the next revisions of their corporate travel policies!

IAHtraveler

I've had a similar experience several times lately when booking a suite and asking for a better one. Nearly every time, the FD clerk states "you're already in a suite" and gets annoyed when I say that I booked a suite and was looking for a better one.

The best one was last week at an Embassy Suites, when asking for any upgrade (when the app showed several were available), I was told "You're already in a suite". I politely explained that all rooms were suites and I was inquiring about an upgrade. Agent was very disturbed at this point and it was clear I wasn't getting anywhere.

pinniped

I don't lose sleep over non-upgrades at HH. I've come to the realization that HHonors is *not* an upgrade-centric program at all.

If upgrades are your thing, you need to be staying at Hyatt and SPG (for 2018, anyway).

HH has evolved into a program that is purely transactional. I pay X for a room and get Y back in future free stay value. There is no real relationship with Honors like there is with SPG. (I know less about Hyatt.) It's basically the Southwest Rapid Rewards of hotel programs: rewarding if you play it right, but not really a big aspirational thing.

It is a bit insulting when an FDC will gush about giving you an upgrade that isn't really an upgrade. If I'm not being put in a suite, then just tell me "you didn't get an upgrade because we're not Starwood."