Mr. Points Traveler and I are currently in Vegas for a few nights celebrating our wedding anniversary. Our first two nights are at The Cosmopolitan, and they were comped thanks to a big casino win during my husband’s last trip here.
I booked the third night at The Bellagio using the American Express FHR program, and we’ll be getting a lot of bang for our buck.
When we booked our comped rooms, we were told we’d get a standard city room with two queen beds, which would have been fine since the nights were free (beggars can’t be choosers here), but I wanted something a little nicer since it was legitimately a special occasion.
At booking, I told the reservations specialist that it was our anniversary, and she put a note in asking for an upgrade.
Then I thought of the good old fashioned “$20 trick” that many of my friends and even fellow bloggers have been successful with (Points & Pixie Dust got a penthouse suite this way!). I figured it was worth a try.
The $20 trick is simply defined as taking a $20 bill, folding it up, and sandwiching in between your ID and credit card at check in like this:
If the agent is willing to accept the $20 tip in exchange for an upgrade, then it’s a win-win for both. If not, they simply hand it back, and you’ll get a rush of awkward middle-school rejection.
When we checked in, Mr. Points Traveler handed over the upgrade sandwich, told the receptionist that it was our anniversary, and politely asked if there were any nicer rooms available.
She looked at the $20, laughed in our face (seriously), put it back on the counter in front of us. There was a moment of silence.
She then said she could upgrade us to a city view studio suite for an additional $50 a night, but that it wasn’t quite ready. Another option was a 2-bedroom suite for $100 more a night that was ready to go.
I jokily told her that 2 bedrooms would be nice, but it wouldn’t be conducive to anniversary festivities. She politely chuckled at my lame joke, and told me that she actually had a fountain view suite available for immediate check in for $50 a night.
We took it, and this is our view from the room:
Although my $20 didn’t get me anywhere, we do have a pretty sweet room in the end.
I’m not sure I’ll try the $20 trick again anytime soon, but I am curious to hear about other experiences. Were your $20 trick attempts successful or a total fail? Feel free to discuss.
I think the $20 is dated information. It didn’t work for us either. At the Bellagio. Frankly, $20 is not much these days, so likely you needed to have offered more. We placed $50 in there and got an awesome room, but, yeah, $50 is more than double. Well, it’s like everything. Inflation!
I tried the $20 trick in Manhattan, no less, and it didn’t do a thing. But I had snacks in my luggage in Papeete, Tahiti. We arrived at 3AM, and our room had been made for the date we arrived, but we messed up and forgot about check-in time being 2PM. I had resigned myself to sitting in the lobby after a long flight for another 11 hours. I was genuinely nice to the desk clerk who told me he went to college in Los Angeles. I asked what he missed about America, and he said “snack food”. I pulled out a bag of Oreos because I really WAS being nice. Voila’ a huge waterfront suite became available for our entire stay. Sometimes it’s not the big tip that matters. Just be nice.
The Cosmo is one of the very few hotels where they set the tip back onto the counter.
Did your sandwich include your M Life card? I made sure to include my gold M Life from the Hyatt CC. I believe that helped get a $20 upgrade for fountain view over 3 nights midweek.
I think the whole $20 thing is tacky and is indirect stealing by the employee from the hotel. If you want an upgrade, you should be willing to pay the hotel for it. Of course, it can’t hurt to ask nicely for a free upgrade and then tip the employee if you are happy with the result.
Gene, the Bellagio seemed to have a procedure in place for upgrades at check in. A phone call was made to verify my info and my upgrade “qualifactions”. Management seemed to be completely in control of the process, so I wouldn’t consider it stealing there. Tacky is in the eye of the beholder, but I think you need to inspire the call somehow. I can’t do it on my looks so I need a $20 bill. :)
Agreed!
Brian – Cosmo isn’t an mLife property. They’re a Marriott Autograph Collection property.
Depending on management, people get fired due to the $20 trick. Keep in mind that some properties offer their employees commission, so that $50 per night upgrade fee might have netted the employee $15+. They receive $5 less from the upgrade, but they’re not risking their job. If it were a $50 or $100 then the story might be a little different.
Oh, my bad. Misread that part.
so did she give you the twenty back or pocket it
Your problem is that $20 will only get an upgrade at cheaper hotels in Vegas. At the nicer ones (like the Bellagio) $50 is really the minimum. It is still called the “20 dollar trick”, but in name only.
Hey if you don’t have the tool sometimes start joking from the start make sense but make sure you make him or her smile it works for me.
I just got back from Vegas yesterday and feel like the $20 trick was a success for me.
I think (as some have mentioned) you need to take into account the level of hotel you are staying at…$20 is not much at the fancier hotels. I have had great luck with it at hotels like the Luxor, Tropicana, and most recently the New York New York.
On this recent stay, at NYNY they were not able to give me an upgrade due to my needing 2 queen beds, but they waived the resort fee of $35/night for my 4 night stay. I felt that was a pretty good pay off for $20. :)
I’ve had mixed success with the $20 trick. As said above, the nicer the property, the less likely it will work.
Also, it may be coincidence, but every time I’ve had a younger guy at check-in the $20 trick has worked… men are more willing to break the rules?
I work at a resort and I would be offended if someone used the $20 trick. It’s just tacky, shady, and untastful. If someone was simply nice and asked about upgrades I would gladly upgrade them at no charge if I had a room open.
I have found that some of the hotels have a paid upgrade structure (like you got) that is offered either in advance by e-mail or at check-in. A hotel manager I know said that part of the reason they began doing that was to make sure the hotel was getting the money that used to go as a tip to the rep at the counter.
Glad you got a nice room, though!
Within the past 6 months, I’ve given the $20 tip at the Bellagio and it HAS worked. Will confirm again later next week.
Worked for me at Vdara in May. Booked the cheapest room via mlife, used the ‘invited guests’ line, got an Executive Corner Suite.
There’s a saying that goes something like “if you don’t ask, there’s a 100% chance you won’t get what you want”… or the new version “if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.”
If you hadn’t tried this tactic, you might not have received the offer for the room that you ultimately got for the $50/night. Enjoy the room and your anniversary!
At the nicer hotels in Vegas, it should be $40 min. I also was on a comp stay for two nights last year, and offered $40. I got bumped to a strip view one-bedroom suite on the 2nd highest floor with a magnificent balcony.