The only upgrades you can lock in before arrival are upgrade certificates and paid upgrades. World of Hyatt Suite Upgrade Awards, Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards, Hilton’s Confirmable Upgrade Reward, IHG Confirmable Suite Upgrades and Accor Suite Night Upgrades all confirm a better room before you check in. Everything else, including top-tier elite status, American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts, Virtuoso and the brands’ own adviser programmes, gives an upgrade “when available”, decided by the hotel. Asking at the desk is the least predictable route.
Programme rules below are taken from each company’s own terms and benefit pages, read on 9 October 2026. Tips from hoteliers and frequent travellers are attributed to the person who gave them.
Ways to get an upgrade compared
| Method | When the upgrade is confirmed | Highest room it can reach | What it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyatt Suite Upgrade Award | At booking | Standard suite (some awards cover premium suites) | Milestone Rewards from 40 nights, or 6,000 points a night |
| Marriott Nightly Upgrade Award | 1 to 3 days before arrival, if available | Select premium rooms and suites | 50 or 75 elite nights (Annual Choice Benefit) |
| Hilton Confirmable Upgrade Reward | At booking | One-bedroom suite | Diamond Reserve (80 nights or 40 stays, and US$18,000) |
| IHG Confirmable Suite Upgrade | At booking | Suite | Milestone Rewards at 20, 40 or 70 nights |
| Accor Suite Night Upgrade | Before arrival (Accor calls it guaranteed) | Suite, one night per award | Platinum (60 nights or 14,000 Status points) |
| Leaders Club pre-arrival upgrade | Before arrival, if the hotel accepts | One category, not into a suite | Leaders Club membership after one paid stay |
| Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum and above, Hilton Diamond | At check-in, if available | Standard suite (Hyatt), select suites (Marriott), one-bedroom suite (Hilton) | 60, 50 and 50 nights a year |
| InterContinental Ambassador | At check-in (described as guaranteed) | One room category | US$225 a year or 45,000 IHG points |
| Fine Hotels + Resorts, The Edit, Visa Luxury Hotel Collection | At check-in, if available | Not specified; some room types excluded | Eligible Amex, Chase or Visa card, booked through the card’s travel site |
| Virtuoso and brand adviser programmes | At check-in, if available (Hyatt Privé answers after booking) | Set by each hotel | Booking through a member travel adviser |
| Paying for it | At booking, before arrival or at check-in | Whatever the hotel sells | Cash or points |
For how to earn each elite tier, and what else the tiers include, see our hotel rewards programme comparison.
Upgrades you can confirm before arrival
These are certificates or awards attached to a specific reservation. They are the only free upgrades that are not decided at the front desk.
| Programme | Award | How you get it | Rules that matter |
|---|---|---|---|
| World of Hyatt | Suite Upgrade Award | Milestone Rewards choice at 40 nights and most later milestones; four a year for Lifetime Globalists | Confirmed at booking, stays up to 7 nights; at resorts you must pay the Standard Rate for at least a deluxe room |
| World of Hyatt | Points upgrades | Redeem points | 3,000 points a night for a Club room, 6,000 for a suite, 9,000 for a premium suite |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Nightly Upgrade Award (formerly Suite Night Award) | Five awards as an Annual Choice Benefit at 50 or 75 nights | One award per night for the whole stay; not purchasable; not valid at Ritz-Carlton Reserve |
| Hilton Honors | Confirmable Upgrade Reward | One at Diamond Reserve, a second at 120 nights | Up to a one-bedroom suite, stays up to 7 nights; apply at least 36 hours before arrival |
| IHG One Rewards | Confirmable Suite Upgrade | Milestone Rewards choice at 20, 40 and 70 nights | Chosen instead of points or food and beverage rewards |
| ALL Accor | Suite Night Upgrade | Two at Platinum, one more at 18,000 Status points, then one every 4,000 | One award covers one night |
Hyatt. Suite Upgrade Awards are the most flexible of these: they confirm when you book and can be gifted to another member. Hyatt’s terms require you to pay the Standard Rate for at least a standard room at hotels, or a deluxe room at resorts. Hyatt’s Free Nights & Upgrades page lists one points price per night for each upgrade type, with no variation by hotel category.
Marriott. You request Nightly Upgrade Awards on Marriott.com or by phone. Marriott starts checking availability three days before arrival and keeps checking until 2pm local time the day before. If nothing clears, the awards are returned. Once confirmed, you can only get them back by cancelling the whole reservation, and leaving early forfeits the unused nights. They are not accepted at Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Design Hotels or all-inclusive resorts.
Hilton. The Confirmable Upgrade Reward is booked through the Hilton Honors app or by phone and is valid for 12 months. It is not offered at Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island or Hilton Maldives Amingiri.
Accor. Platinum members get two Suite Night Upgrades. Accor’s complimentary upgrades for Gold and above exclude villas, speciality and presidential suites, stop at Junior Suites at Raffles, and do not include the Fairmont Gold floor.
Elite status upgrades at check-in
The top tiers of the big programmes promise an upgrade “subject to availability” when you arrive. The hotel decides what counts as available.
| Tier | What the terms promise | Exclusions in the terms |
|---|---|---|
| Hyatt Globalist | Best room available at check-in, up to Standard Suites (the hotel’s introductory suite category) and Club rooms | Premium, speciality and presidential suites |
| Hyatt Explorist | Upgraded room | Suites and Club rooms |
| Marriott Platinum, Titanium, Ambassador | A complimentary upgrade for the whole stay, which can include suites | Ritz-Carlton Reserve; Club-access rooms at The Ritz-Carlton |
| Marriott Gold | Enhanced room (view, high floor, corner, Executive Floor); suites not listed | Ritz-Carlton Reserve; Club-access rooms at The Ritz-Carlton |
| Hilton Diamond and Diamond Reserve | Space-available upgrade up to a junior, standard or one-bedroom suite | Executive suites, villas, speciality rooms; Waldorf Astoria Maldives, Conrad Maldives, Hilton Maldives Amingiri |
| Hilton Gold | Space-available upgrade up to Executive Floor rooms | Suites |
| IHG Platinum and Diamond | Upgrade when available | Not specified |
| Accor Gold and above | Next room category, if available at check-in | Villas, speciality and presidential suites |
Points to check before relying on status:
- Marriott narrowed the wording in May 2025. Before then, Platinum and above were promised “the best available room”. The current terms promise “a complimentary upgrade”, which need not be the best one, according to One Mile at a Time (November 2025).
- Marriott now assigns upgrades automatically. Since 14 July 2025, a system starts matching Gold and higher members to upgrade rooms from 3pm local time the day before arrival and notifies the member, according to One Mile at a Time. Hotels still choose which rooms go into the upgrade pool.
- Hilton excludes its Maldives resorts from complimentary upgrades and confirmable upgrades.
- Status from a credit card gets the same upgrade rules. The Hilton Honors Aspire Card (US$550 a year) includes Diamond status, and the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card (US$650 a year) includes Platinum Elite, as of October 2026. Marriott states the Platinum benefits apply only on Qualifying Rates.
InterContinental Ambassador is the one paid membership that promises an upgrade at chain hotels. It costs US$225 for 12 months or 45,000 IHG One Rewards points and gives a “guaranteed one category room upgrade” at InterContinental hotels. IHG’s FAQ says the upgrade is applied at check-in, though it may show on the reservation beforehand. It cannot be combined with an IHG Confirmable Suite Upgrade on the same stay.
Tanner Saunders, senior hotels reporter at The Points Guy, told Condé Nast Traveller (January 2024): “Historically, top-tier Hyatt Globalists have the best luck with upgrades.”
Upgrades through booking programmes and travel advisers
These programmes attach a package of benefits to a booking made through a card issuer’s travel site or a member travel adviser. In every case below, the upgrade is “when available” and the hotel decides.
| Programme | Who can book | Hotels | Benefits besides the upgrade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts | US Platinum Card members via Amex Travel | 1,900+ | 12pm check-in when available, guaranteed 4pm checkout, US$100 credit, daily breakfast for two |
| Amex The Hotel Collection | US Gold, Platinum and Centurion members; minimum two nights | 1,400+ | US$100 credit |
| The Edit by Chase Travel | Chase Sapphire Reserve and J.P. Morgan Reserve cardholders; prepaid, minimum two nights | 1,400+ | Daily breakfast for two, US$100 property credit |
| Visa Luxury Hotel Collection | Visa Signature and Visa Infinite cardholders | 900+ | Continental breakfast for two, US$25 food or beverage credit, late checkout to 3pm on request |
| Virtuoso | Clients of a Virtuoso adviser | Not checked | Varies by hotel; a Virtuoso campaign page lists breakfast for two and a US$100 credit at several hotels |
| Hyatt Privé | Clients of invited agencies | Participating Hyatt hotels | Breakfast for two, a property credit set by each hotel |
| Four Seasons Preferred Partner | Clients of invited advisers | All Four Seasons | Varies by property |
| Rosewood Elite | Clients of invited agencies | All Rosewood | Not published by Rosewood |
| Marriott STARS and Luminous | Clients of invited advisers | Marriott luxury brands | Breakfast for two, US$100 credit (per adviser-published descriptions) |
| Leaders Club | Members booking public or member rates via LHW channels | 400+ independent hotels | Breakfast for two, upgrade priority on arrival, pre-arrival upgrade requests |
Details that change how useful these are:
- The Visa upgrade is defined. Visa’s terms say you are moved “to the next highest room class for the duration of your stay” when available at check-in. Amex says only that “certain room categories are not eligible”.
- Hyatt Privé answers before you travel. Hyatt’s public Privé page is a sign-in page for advisers and lists no benefits. An adviser in the programme, La Jolla Mom (August 2026), says the hotel answers upgrade requests within 24 business hours of booking, that a standard room usually will not move into a suite or Club room, and that Privé benefits cannot be combined with member, AAA, corporate, prepaid or award rates.
- Four Seasons publishes nothing about Preferred Partner benefits. Its page describes the programme as an “invitation-only network of high-end travel consultants”. Benefit descriptions come from member advisers, who have an interest in promoting the programme.
- Elite status and adviser bookings can overlap. A hotel-brand adviser rate booked at an eligible rate can still earn points and status benefits. Marriott’s terms say reservations on Qualifying Rates made through travel agents must carry the membership number for the Elite Benefits Guarantee to apply. Hyatt’s terms tell members to ask their agent whether the booking is an Eligible Rate.
- Leaders Club pre-arrival upgrades are one category and “cannot be used to upgrade to, or within, a suite category”. Members get one a year after their first paid stay, Sterling members (US$5,000 spend a year) get five.
Booking direct versus online travel agencies
Elite upgrades depend on the channel. All three big programmes write this into their terms:
- Marriott classes rooms booked through “a tour operator, online travel channel or other third-party channel”, naming Expedia and Booking.com, as Non-Qualifying Rates, which earn no points and carry no “membership tier benefits”.
- Hyatt lists rooms booked on third-party online retailers, including Expedia, Hotels.com and Booking.com, and bookings made directly on Google, as Ineligible Rates. Elite in-hotel benefits are not provided on Ineligible Rates.
- Hilton requires a booking through a Hilton website, app, phone line, the hotel itself, or an IATA-accredited travel agent using a Hilton channel or named distribution system, for any on-property benefit including space-available upgrades.
The exception is an online agency’s own loyalty scheme. Booking.com says Genius members from Level 2 get “free upgrades, applied automatically to select stays”. Katy Maclure, editor of Jack’s Flight Club’s The Detour newsletter, told Condé Nast Traveller she has noticed more upgrades since reaching Level 3. Booking.com does not publish which hotels take part.
Paying for an upgrade
- Marriott says upgrades can be bought on Marriott.com, in the app or on arrival.
- Hyatt sells points upgrades at a fixed price (above). Its terms say that if you buy an upgrade at check-in, your elite benefits still follow the rate you originally booked.
- Pre-arrival offers. Some hotels use Oracle’s Nor1 software to show upgrade offers on their booking pages and in confirmation and pre-arrival emails. With its eStandby Upgrade product, you request an upgrade at a stated price when booking or before arrival, and you only pay if it is awarded at check-in.
- Asking at the desk. Tanner Saunders of The Points Guy told Condé Nast Traveller that he was once offered a US$100 upgrade at the Waldorf Astoria New York that moved him from an entry-level room to a multi-room corner suite.
Timing, check-in and asking
Nothing in this section is in any programme’s rules. It is advice from hoteliers and frequent travellers, attributed to each.
- Travel when the hotel is quiet. “Guests are more likely to be eligible for upgrades during quieter times, whether that means travelling in the low or shoulder seasons or opting for mid-week stays,” Michael Caines, chef-owner of Lympstone Manor and UK and Ireland delegate for Relais & Châteaux, told Condé Nast Traveller.
- Arriving late is not a reliable trick. Ben Schlappig of One Mile at a Time (July 2026) says room assignments are now largely automated. In his view, the best odds come from arriving around standard check-in time when your blocked room is not ready, while late-night arrivals produce “the most surprises, for better or worse”, including downgrades when inventory is thin.
- Check what the hotel is selling. Schlappig checks the Marriott app before arrival for the room he has been blocked into and for how many suites are still for sale, then asks once at check-in.
- Ask, at the right hotel. Andrew Kelly, owner of The Bradley Hare in Wiltshire, told Condé Nast Traveller that at “an Aman or a similar top-end hotel”, asking whether other rooms are available will “almost always” produce an upgrade if one is free.
- Build a relationship with the reservations team. Neil Kedward, founder of Seren, a hospitality agency in Wales, told Condé Nast Traveller that a reservationist who remembers your conversation “will always do the best for you on the day if they can”.
- Book a room with somewhere to go. La Jolla Mom, a Hyatt Privé adviser, books clients into the Deluxe King at Andaz San Diego because that is the category Privé moves into the Andaz Suite, and says that from the entry-level room “the upgrade has nowhere to take you”.
What changed since this guide was first published
The October 2021 version listed 12 general tips. Changes in this update:
- Added: confirmable upgrade awards by programme, elite upgrade rules and exclusions, InterContinental Ambassador, card and adviser programmes, the third-party booking rules from Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton terms, and paid and bid upgrades.
- Corrected: “check in after 6pm” is replaced with One Mile at a Time’s assessment that late arrival can go either way.
- Updated: IHG Rewards Club is now IHG One Rewards. Marriott’s Suite Night Awards are now Nightly Upgrade Awards. The Visa Signature collection now lists 900+ hotels, up from 800.
- Removed: the 2021 credit card sign-up offers (out of date), and tips with no evidence behind them: claiming a special occasion or a divorce, offering social media coverage, choosing newer hotels, and booking shorter stays.
For more ways to stay at luxury hotels for less, see how to get free luxury hotel stays.
