{"id":1208,"date":"2014-04-24T19:05:32","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T02:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/?p=1208"},"modified":"2014-04-24T19:05:32","modified_gmt":"2014-04-25T02:05:32","slug":"las-vegas-20-trick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/las-vegas-20-trick\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas $20 Trick for Hotel Room Upgrades"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travellers seeking a free hotel room upgrade can try the Las Vegas $20 trick. \u00a0Here is an overview of the $20 trick and some tips to maximize the likelihood of getting upgraded.<\/p>\n

Overview of the Las Vegas $20 Trick<\/h2>\n
The Las Vegas $20 trick is nothing more than giving a tip to the front desk clerk of your hotel during check in while asking for an upgrade. \u00a0It is coined the “$20 Trick” because traditionally the tip would be $20. \u00a0To my knowledge, this phenomenon does not work in other cities because the culture of tipping to get what you want is not as prevalent in other cities through the United States as in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
Here is a step by step play of how the Las Vegas $20 trick works:<\/p>\n
\n
When you check in to your hotel, you are required to show your credit card and drivers license, so have these out and ready while you are waiting in line.<\/li>\n
Take your $20 bill and fold it into half and then half again, and place it between your credit card and identification.<\/li>\n
As you walk up to the front desk, place the “sandwich” on the front desk (or keep it in your hand above the counter), allowing the clerk to see the ID, credit card, and money.<\/li>\n
Ask them for an upgrade, and hand them the sandwich.<\/li>\n
The clerk pockets the tip and hopefully gives you a room upgrade.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Tips for Maximizing Likelihood of a Hotel Room Upgrade<\/h2>\n
There is some risk involved. \u00a0In some cases, the front desk clerk will take the tip and then give you a mediocre upgrade or no upgrade at all. \u00a0Its very difficult to ask for a refund on a tip (let alone awkward), so here are some tips for maximizing the likelihood of getting a room upgrade when doing the $20 trick:<\/p>\n
\n
Give $50 instead of $20. \u00a0This is particularly important at some of the higher end hotels or for longer stays. \u00a0If you are there for 3 nights or longer, at a 5-star hotel like the Cosmopolitan, Bellagio, Venetian or Palazzo, consider making it a $50 trick. \u00a0This is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of your trip, and you will likely get a better upgrade.<\/li>\n
Be specific about the type of upgrade you want. \u00a0Tell the clerk that you are hoping to get a room with a view of the strip, and the you would prefer a suite.<\/li>\n
Be friendly and have your script worked out. \u00a0I have personally done the Las Vegas $20 trick 6 times, 5 of them successful. \u00a0My script goes something like this: \u00a0“Hi. \u00a0How are you? \u00a0I’m wondering how busy you are, because I’m celebrating (something special), and I would love to have an upgrade.” \u00a0Then I place the sandwich on the counter, but not leaving my hand, ensuring they can see the $20 bill or $50 bill. \u00a0I continue, “I’d really like to have a suite if possible, and a view of the Strip. \u00a0I’ll be happy to make it worth your while.” \u00a0If I’m getting a good vibe, I will release my hand off the sandwich and push it forward. \u00a0If the clerk says “no”, I simply take back my money before handing it over.<\/li>\n
Weekends are usually harder to get upgrades because the casinos have higher occupancy rates. \u00a0I’m told that the later you check in, the better.<\/li>\n
Be confident. \u00a0Do not be shy or nervous. \u00a0In Vegas, you need to ask for what you want. \u00a0This is expected of you, and if you don’t ask, you won’t get.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
According to traveller reports in the Las Vegas Priceline and Hotwire forum<\/a>, the $20 trick works better at some Vegas hotels than others. The Flamingo, Treasure Island, Caesar’s Palace, MGM, New York New York, and the Cosmopolitan have a reportedly high success rate. \u00a0While there is some truth to this, I think it has more to do with the technique of the person checking in, their tip amount, and the front desk clerk. \u00a0Sure, the hotel’s policy has some bearing on the outcome, but not too much because virtually all hotels give room upgrades to some guests some of the time.<\/p>\n
Related Articles<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Better Bidding on Las Vegas Priceline Hotels<\/a>: \u00a0Tips for bidding (and free rebidding) on Priceline, allowing travellers to get hotels like the Venetian, Aria, and Vdara for under $100 per night.<\/p>\n
Palazzo Hotel on Priceline<\/a>: \u00a0Looking to stay at the Palazzo. \u00a0This article offers tips on how to get the Palazzo on Hotwire and Priceline at super low prices.<\/p>\n
Nevada Priceline & Hotwire Discussion Forum<\/a>: \u00a0A great resource for bidding travelers using Hotwire or Priceline to book their hotel.<\/p>\n
Some people ask if there is anything wrong with tipping the front desk clerk to get a room upgrade. \u00a0Absolutely not. \u00a0The Vegas service industry is driven by tips, whether its tipping the concierge for getting you tickets, the bouncer for letting you bypass a line up at a club, or a front desk for giving you a room upgrade. \u00a0This is the norm in Vegas. \u00a0Do the Las Vegas $20 trick with confidence, tell them what you want, and they will \u00a0treat you right.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Las Vegas $20 trick is nothing more than giving a tip to the front desk clerk of your hotel during check in while asking for an upgrade. It is coined the “$20 Trick” because traditionally the tip would be $20. To my knowledge, this phenomenon does not work in other cities because the culture of tipping to get what you want is not as prevalent in other cities through the United States as in Las Vegas. Here is a step by step play of how the Las Vegas $20 trick works…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1211,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,42,47],"tags":[153],"class_list":["post-1208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hotels","category-las-vegas","category-travel-tips","tag-las-vegas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1208"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1210,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208\/revisions\/1210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoteldealsrevealed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}