At the vast majority of hotels this is well known, and it is NOT something you would lose your job o

When I booked, the only room available was one king bed. My traveling party wanted two beds, but I wasn t worried because I knew that would be an easy change at check in. My other big plan for check in was to use the Twenty Dollar Trick, which I first learned about from thetwentydollartrick.com .
The twenty dollar bill trick is sweeping the travel industry and becoming extremely popular, especially in Las Vegas. When you check into a hotel you simply slip the front desk clerk a $20 bill with your credit card, while asking, Do you have any complimentary upgrades available? The general rule of thumb is that the front desk clerk will check for upgrades and if they cannot celine dion tickets las vegas discount find anything they will return the $20 tip, making it risk free!
I ve known about the trick for years, but I haven t tried it in Vegas. Last month my friend tried it at the Cosmopolitan and got upgraded celine dion tickets las vegas discount from a standard room to an incredible suite with a bathroom with windows onto the strip and a bar for the weekend. For $20.
We took the keys and went to the room, and we immediately realized how much that $20 had bought celine dion tickets las vegas discount us. We were on the second highest floor of the Ali i Tower looking straight out at the ocean. The view on the background of my twitter account ( @MileValue ) was our view from the room.
Beyond the view, the Ali i Tower had several benefits. We had access to a private pool for tower members only, which was much less crowded than the resorts other pools. The pool had incredible beach views.
For a random weekday in October, Hilton Hawaiian Village is charging $239 for the base room that we would have gotten and $449 for the room we did get with free breakfast. Over four nights, celine dion tickets las vegas discount that s an $840 upgrade for $20.
I m not saying that I got $840 in value from the $20 trick. I slept through breakfast, though my friends celine dion tickets las vegas discount liked it, and the view was not worth $160 per day. But I did get far more than $20 worth of value.
Yes. Here s the data from Las Vegas. 84.4% of reports are of a success. Of course, success is relative. Some upgrades are minor, and some are major. But even a minor upgrade is worth $20, especially if you are staying several nights. And I also imagine there is a self-selection bias whereby people are more likely celine dion tickets las vegas discount to report successes. However it s clear the $20 trick works in Las Vegas and beyond.
It does look like the guest and employee are circumventing celine dion tickets las vegas discount the hotel s ability to profit from its best rooms. But on the other hand, hotels give their check-in agent huge discretion over where to put you.
I m pretty sure if the hotel finds out about it, the desk clerk will be looking for a new job. If the IRS finds out about it, he ll be in bigger trouble than that. I thought there were cameras everywhere in Las Vegas. I prefer your posts on getting best value out of air mileage redemptions. Leave the sleazy celine dion tickets las vegas discount stuff to others.
celine dion tickets las vegas discount I do it in Vegas all the time. The front desk clerk even leaves the $20 on the counter while typing. It s essentially expected for any sort of upgrade. Not really worth it as most Vegas roons are suites(at least at the Venetian/Palazzo) and who cares about an upgade at Circus/Circus?
Getting a tip is part of compensation (and livelihood) for hospitality workers. So I don t understand why would he get fired as he upgraded a HH Gold status guest. celine dion tickets las vegas discount As for the IRS, they will have to audit him after he files his income tax return at the end of the year to see if he declared that $20 bill as part of his income not likely they will spend that much money/energy to go after a little celine dion tickets las vegas discount fish (FD clerk).
I don t think I d have the guts to try it outside Vegas, but I could see it working in touristy destinations. It s possible your room would have gone empty for your stay, but instead, you got an upgrade the staff got some extra cash and you ve just posted a rave review celine dion tickets las vegas discount about the property. I don t think this is a lose situation for the hotel.
I agree in this situation everyone won because I would never have paid for an upgrade, and they did get some good free press here. But hotels would not like it if people who would pay for an upgrade stopped doing so because they knew they could use the $20 trick.
If hotel owners didn t want to give front desk clerks the discretion of where to put guests, they easily could take it away by implementing the software to make it difficult or impossible for the clerk to make that change. In my experience, hotels will be able to upgrade you if there is plenty of room, and won t if there isn t. So why not ask?
Despite their grooming and attire, the front desk clerk is often a low-wage job. I am happy to offer them a tip for service that enables me to enjoy my trip more. However, I do think it is a little cheesy to rescind the tip if they can t offer an upgrade. If you only want to tip in exchange for an upgrade, celine dion tickets las vegas discount why not try to assess ahead of time how full the hotel is (based on going room rates for that night, how crowded the lobby is, etc.) before you decide celine dion tickets las vegas discount to offer the sandwich.
This seems to work especially well in Las Vegas because of its culture of tipping. My wife and I stayed at the Mark Hopkins in San Francisco, celine dion tickets las vegas discount which recognizes celine dion tickets las vegas discount priority club status, and we were upgraded to a suite on the top floor since it was my wife s birthday. The clerk tried to return my tip but I insisted he keep my $10. On the other hand, I tried it in Paris and the clerk looked at me like I was nuts. So it really depends a lot on where you are and what the culture is with respect to tipping.
I would love to hear from one of the front desk clerks. Have they ever been asked by their bosses about why they gave XYZ such a nice room? Is the tipping practice implicitly accepted by the front desk manager? Do tell!
Tipping is common in hotels. Desk clerks have discretion to give free upgrades. Honestly, I don t see this as a big issue. If the desk clerk gave a free upgrade and you tipped $20 to say thanks that wouldn t be unethical. celine dion tickets las vegas discount My ethics meter falls on is this hurting anyone. Not you. Not the clerk. I don t even see this as hurting the hotel because at this point (check in) the nice room will go unsold. My only problem with this post is your bash of The Campaign. I thought that movie was really funny!
I m a Vegas regular and tip at every check-in. Now, I also tip everyone, every time while in Vegas, so I treat any bump as a bonus. My results have ranged from a high floor, better view to a 1,000+ sq ft suite w/270 view. I ve had some clerks take the money and set it aside, and others hand it back to me immediately, but regardless of the result I always give them the tip. I read about some folks taking back the dough if the clerk cannot help them. I think that s bogus.
It s Vegas everything runs on tips. From the dealers to the cocktail servers to the doormen, you ll have more fun in Vegas if you allocate a trip cost for tipping. Everyone s happier and service is better win-win.
Lots of meat on this comment. What service celine dion tickets las vegas discount do you get by tipping the door man? Faster taxi? My biggest Vegas-buff friend is also a tip-everyone-in-sight traveler celine dion tickets las vegas discount in Vegas, so that may be the way to go.
All things are negiotiable in life! Thx for sharing, I love it, even though it has nothing to do with miles (but it does offer value). I just shared this with a friend who is heading to Vegas tomorrow.
celine dion tickets las vegas discount I think it s brilliant. Thanks for sharing! I am staying in Hiltons in Anchorage celine dion tickets las vegas discount and in Vancouver this summer and I wonder if I could try this to upgrade my family to a suite. celine dion tickets las vegas discount One is not a high-traffic hotel, and the other one is Canadian. I hope they are not insulted by this tip .
I personally think your upgrade had much more to do with your Gold status than the $20 trick. I have been Gold for many years based purely on credit card spend but because HHonors is not my top hotel loyalty program, my Hilton family stays are few and far between. However, by booking the basic room category, I have received suite or significant upgrades at the Conrads in Hong Kong and Chicago, the Trafalgar in London, the Beverly Hilton, etc. Never tried the $20 trick at a Hilton celine dion tickets las vegas discount property.
@Dom, +1! And when a bribe is expected by the recipient, it is extortion. Think of the street person who offers to watch your parked car or the maitre d at a Las Vegas show who only gives you a good seat if there is a nice tip.
Mariana I live in Alaska and stay at the Hilton every now and then..I have been been able to show my Hilton card and ask for an upgrade to the club floor for free. Often we just use priceline though and get the Hilton or Sheraton for $50 a night.
Vegas Hotels and ethics? Talk about the ultimate oxymoron! When has a Vegas Hotel worried about ethics? Can anyone say Resort Fee? Or how about outrageous Wi Fi charges? And let s not forget the jacked-up prices for rooms if you ever want to stay over a holiday weekend. The list goes on and on. So, I say take the hotels for all you can! Whenever you can. They d do the same to you in a heartbeat!
A friend s wife works as a hotel event planner. She s far more brazen than that when they travel. He said she basically walks up to the counter and offers half price to start and negotiates from there. I had a hotel manager last summer pretty much bargain with himself into giving me a ridiculous deal including all of their specialty packages all I did was ask why one package didn t include something from the other package. I wasn t even being pushy. I think it s pretty much part of the culture, at least here in the States.
It s common practice in hotels, even ones that aren t in the United States (I ve tried it, successfully, in Paris, Berlin, Prague, Dublin, and London). Customers like it because they get a better room. Front desk people like it because they get extra $$$. Hotels like it because it allows them to continue to pay low wages to people who survive off tips and it gets a better word of mouth about their product.
At the vast majority of hotels this is well known, celine dion tickets las vegas discount and it is NOT something you would lose your job over. Th