wanabath said:Stayed at Paris Weds night. They tried to upsale me on my room before I even said anything to them, Sir, for an extra charge we can put you in a suite. I asked how much, dhe said $89, I said, My hell that is all I paid for the room to begin with.

The room was ok, had stayed there before and thought it was worse than I could remember..from just 6 months ago. The furniture in the room had large wholes in it, and the carpet needed some cleaning.


Will be back next week and will stay at The Wynn.

Thats where you look around, lean in, and say.. I'll hand you a 20, you take care of the rest.

Bet he would have done it w/o a problem!

This just worked for me at Caesars Palace. I booked the cheapest room online, checked in at the airport and let the clerk see the $20 bill. She put us in the new Augustus Tower, it would have been an extra $120/night if I had booked that room myself. Second to the top floor "petite suite" with an awesome view of the strip. I would never had tried if it weren't for this thread - thanks for the advice!

I first heard about the $20 Trick on a site about 6 years ago (something along the lines of Las Vegas Hack Attack). The forums there were filled with great info like this, and stories about how well the trick worked went on for pages. The webmaster then decided to remove all of the info from the forums and started selling it as a subscription instead.

Anyway, I decided to give it a try. Staying at Paris with a reservation I had booked directly online, I nervously handed a twenty to the clerk with my credit card and asked if there were any upgrades available. She looked at me and said, "Oh no, don't do this to me!" I figured I'd somehow messed up and gotten her in trouble, so I said "sorry" and tried to retrieve the bill. She said, "No, that's okay", and pocketed the cash. She did some clickety-clicks on her keyboard, then said, "I can put you in a petite suite". The room overlooked the pool and the Eiffel Tower through one set of windows, and the Bellagio fountains through the other. Score!

Remember, the Eye-in-the-Sky is above the check-in desks, too. Clerks would be hard pressed to be pulling off something illicit under those conditions. Plus, a simple review of the check-in logs would show people getting upgraded; if this was a no-no, you can bet it would be stopped.

My understanding is that the desk folks can put you anywhere they want, as long as it's equal to at least what you originally reserved. If rooms are open, a $20 and a smile can go a long way. I'll be trying this again at Aladdin in March (thanks to this forum for the great deal). As said before, if they take your money and give you squat, it's just your first losing bet in Vegas. But remember -- you're there to gamble!

why would that particular weekend be busy? its the week after the super bowl

BossPup said:Well I just got back from Amsterdam and can verify that the 20 dollar (there 20 euro) trick works like a charm. We were staying at the Renaissance Amsterdam for new years eve and wanted to have a nice view of the fireworks. At first, they gave us a room on a lower floor with a courtyard view; definitely not what we wanted. I went back down to the desk and asked for a room on a higher floor. At first they didn't budge, but then the deskclerk noticed the 20 euro note peeking out from underneath my room card. At that point, everything changed, and she became much more interested in finding me a suitable room. In the end, we were upgraded to the club level on the top floor of the hotel with an excellent view of the entire city.

So, the 20 dollar trick definitely works. I was nervous doing it, but I will definitely do it in the future. By the way, some other posters have said that the $20 trick doesn't work with Priceline reservations. From my experience, this isn't the case. The desk clerk doesn't care how you booked your room; they just want your tip.
A while ago I booked a room at Hyatt (may be a Grand) through Hotwire, I asked for paid upgrade and the girl said the computer doesn't allow to.

I'm heading to Vegas on Thursday .. staying at the HOTEL at mandalay bay ... i've heard conflicting reports whether or not the hotel is al the same suites. Does anyone know? I want to give the $20 trick a shot considering we got a great deal staying ontop of the changing rates at the hotel .. got it for 199/nite! thurs-sun . So basically question is are there different rooms at the HOTEL ? and has anyone tried it here.. also does time of check in matter? we'll be checking in around 630ish.

THEHotel is suites only, so the $20 trick probably won't do much of anything for you.

Hello,

I will be going to Vegas on Thursday as well. We will be staying at the Luxor. Any specific thoughts on this location. What are the most desirable rooms there to get upgraded to? We have never been to Vegas. Thanks.

spectra said:I have stayed at Luxor at least once each year for the past seven years. I've never tipped the desk clerk here, but I always got my request of a ground floor tower room with a smile and a thank you.

My description of the Luxor is it is usually the cheapest of the "nice" places. I've never stayed in one of their suites but I have stayed in both the Pyramid and Tower rooms. If you are going for quality over location ask to be given a Tower room. These are in the two towers that were added to the north side of the pyramid. Although their location isn't as cool as staying in the pyramid they are a much better room for the same price. The size of the tower rooms are bigger and they are more lavishly appointed, especially in the bathroom (you get a DEEP tub and a separate glass shower).

Whatever you do make sure you enter through the front door when you first get there. Once you smell the cinnamon scent they inject into the air of the lobby you will know you have arrived. The first step inside the door is breathtaking, you will see... The valet is free so just pull the car up to the valet stand and go inside. Have fun...I'm checking into "The Lux" next Friday!


Thanks for the tips.

i got a nice "burn" trying the trick at the stratosphere. I put a $20.00 between my id and my credit card and said "its my friends first time in vegas..........." and the clerk told me and the clerk next to her, "Did you know there was a $20.00 bill in between your id and cc??" I was so embarrased and said "no, i did not know that!!" She said she was gonna find me the best smoking room and we ended up with the room farthest from the elevator next to the pool (in the middle of winter) with a crap view of the parking garage!!! I guess she didnt want to be bribed. at least i got the 20 back!