Best Hotel Program for free suite upgrades
 

I am trying to decide where to concentrate my hotel spending this year.

I have Priority Gold, SPG Gold, accor platinum, gold carlson and thanks to amex 5 nights to fairmont platinum.

If my interest is not free nights (since this is almost all business travel), but rather to get the most number of free upgrades to suites, which program would be the best?

You need to share your travel patterns (number of nights, locations, average spending per night), but assuming you can make SPG Plat, I would say SPG hands down..

Best Hotel Program for free suite upgrades
 

Not so fast.....again, what are your travel patterns? What's your status with PC? I find PC/Ambassador to be the most generous when it comes to suites, especially if you're staying at ICs (this was even before I was an RA). But I also frequented the same properties. YMMV.

Best Hotel Program for free suite upgrades
 

I got the spg gold as a perk from Amex plat.

Do I just need to do the difference between gold and platinum, or the full number of stays to get plat?

Best Hotel Program for free suite upgrades
 

Usually about 3-4 weeks worth a year in Europe and about the same in the US. Europe tends to be a week at a time while North America is usually avg 2 days.

full number of stays.

In which programs have you earned status via stays vs having via a credit card or other form?

Best Hotel Program for free suite upgrades
 

Priority is the only one earned through stays.

First, Intercontinental royal ambassador will give you guaranteed two - grade upgrade. You need to stay enough nights to get invited or find someone refer you.

Second, I recommend Marriott. Although there is no guaranteed suite upgrade, as a platinum member, 60% of my stay get upgraded. The worst is SPG, there are too many platinum there, only 20% of my stay get upgraded. Marriott do not promise but they do deliver.

I tend to prefer chains that have guaranteed upgrades to suites vs randomly getting upgraded to a suite when you arrive.

As Silver Club Carlson, I was upgraded to better rooms, normally suites, most of the time in the U.S. I hear that's less likely overseas, though. I've just hit Gold, and hope this continues. YMMV.

Also, it's worth bearing in mind is that, even though Hyatt rarely upgrades to suites due to status, it does make it very cheap in terms of points, and the points aren't hard to come by thanks to Chase Ultimate Rewards. Worth considering.

Best Hotel Program for free suite upgrades
 

Most of the credit card earning options aren't open to me as I'm Canadian.

The best programs for CONFIRMED suite upgrades are Hyatt Diamond and Fairmont Platinum. Both programs are great for confirming a suite when it really matters to you, but you´ll not get enough upgrade certs to cover all of your stays.

SPG recently introduced confirmed suite upgrades, but T&C are more restrictive.

Langham Hotels also offers confirmed suite upgrades, but the number of properties is quite limited.

To the best of my knowledge there are no other (major) loyalty programs that offer confirmed upgrades, other status levels such as SPG Platinum and IC RA will often get you a suite based on availability at check-in, but it´s definitely not guaranteed and often very most depends on the particular property.

As a matter of personal experience, I find that SPG Platinum suite upgrades occur at a very high rate (including all upgrades, even those obtained only after being politely persistent at check-in or after the day of arrival). I am aware that this is not the experience of many SPG Platinum members who post on FT and can only suppose that the difference is due to my travel patterns. I seldom travel in North America and do my best to avoid peak travel periods. It seems that people’s success rates with SPG Platinum vary widely.

There may not be many Hyatts at the places you stay in Europe, but in my opinion, the 4/year confirmable upgrades (7 nights) and 6,000 points paid upgrades (4 nights) are the best options for confirmed upgrades at booking.