no backup for excluded files?

[Louis-David Mitterrand]

Hi,

I use rsync 3.0.2 for daily incremental backups:

rsync -aAzHRxby -f '. -' --numeric-ids --delete-during --delete-excluded \
	  --suffix='' --backup-dir=$BACKUP_ROOT/$BACKUP_HOST/${TODAY} \
	  ${DESTINATION}$BACKUP_ROOT/$BACKUP_HOST/current <<< $EXCLUDE_PATTERNS

Sometimes I add a new item to $EXCLUDE_PATTERNS but then the excluded
files are backed up in $BACKUP_ROOT/$BACKUP_HOST/$TODAY. Is there a way
to avoid that?

Thanks,

PS: the --suffix option is useless when using --backup-dir, right?