$20 Trick Believers- Sell me

There seems to be a lot of believers in the trick on here and it gets heated conversation, so here%26#39;s my take.

Does anyone believe that multi billion dollar companies ';randomly'; allow hourly employees at a front desk to make decisions to give away potentially valuable upgrades to just anyone off the street?

Or is it possible that there is a critiria that the computer considers if someone is eligible for an upgrade based on factors such as players status, rate paid for room, expected occupancy percentages for the night and such?

Are there employees that would risk their job and have to defend an upgrade that did not make sense from a business standpoint for a $20 bribe?

Casinos have almost everything down to a science from a numbers standpoint, yet some think that the filling of casinos rooms is just left to an employees hitting a button to ';see whats available';.

I%26#39;m not out to say anyone is wrong with their belief that it has worked, but I firmly believe that so many other factors come into play that the $20 has little to do with it in the majority of upgrades.

So tell me why I am wrong and sell me on it.

$20 Trick Believers- Sell me

I%26#39;m not a legal expert, or insider. I can only tell you my experiences. Las Vegas has always been a place where money talks.

Example #1:

Bought tickets to ';Legends In Concert'; about three years ago at one of the 1/2 price ticket places. Exchanged the vouchers for tickets at the box office, lowest price seats. Long line to get in the theater. Folded a $20 with our tickets, walked past the line to the ';Invited Guests'; entrance, presented the tickets and $20 to the gentleman inside the door, and was shown to a booth nearly center aisle, in the first row of booths.

Example #2:

Walked in to the Center Stage restaurant at the Plaze a couple years ago with my sister and four nieces (long story how that trip happened!). Walked past 15-20 people waiting for tables, with a $10 folded discretely. Sipped the Matre%26#39;d (SP?) the $10 and asked for a table with a view of the Experience, was taken right in and seated at a table with a great view.

Example #3:

Checked in at the Four Queens last year. Run of house room reserved as part of a package with Allegiant Air, very good deal, room essentially free with the airfare. Showed the desk clerk a $20 with my credit card and asked if any free upgrades were available. He put us in a Petite Suite that had just been remodeled. Not the Four Seasons, but a very nice room for downtown.

More and more shows have assigned seating, especially the ';big'; shows, so tipping for better seats probably won%26#39;t work there. And I doubt that $20 would make much of an impression at the high end gourmet restaurants. Tipping for better service has been a tradition in Vegas forever. Best example is drink service while gambling. Tip the waitress a few bucks, and she will return regularly. Stiff her, and see if she comes back at all!

Desk clerks and matre%26#39;ds can and do turn down the offered tip if they cannot give the service. What%26#39;s wrong in offering it?

$20 Trick Believers- Sell me

can i sell you on calling it the $20 TIP ?

$20 ';trick'; phrase is stupid and annoying, like you%26#39;re looking for a cheap ';date';

http://frontdesktip.com/

That will answer your questions.

It%26#39;s funny, you hit on the reasoning that the $20 trick works in your second paragraph: ';multi billion dollar companies';. It%26#39;s like this, my second trip to Vegas, I went to the MGM Grand and did the $20 trick. My buddy and I are not high rollers(maybe gamble about a grand or two each trip between us) and I mainly play poker which makes little profit for the casino. But, with just $20, I was able to get an hourly worker to upgrade me to a suite for the same price of $69 a night. There%26#39;s over 5000 rooms at the MGM Grand, and casinos execs are more concerned about the bottom line not that some guy was upgraded cheaply on a dead part of the week in a slow time of the month. Management doesnt have the time to check every reservation and make sure that the right people are in the right rooms based on how much they play and how much they paid.

Here%26#39;s a great example of this. If you%26#39;ve been reading the forums, you may have noticed that at certain times, several threads will pop up about using promotions that werent sent to them. So you have these ';multi billion dollar companies'; sending out emails to a group of people, saving 10-30% on regular rates, yet they are being used by tons of people that have never even stepped in that casino. It goes to show, room wise, they dont really care much. They focus on the bottom line and that comes from gambling more than anything else.

i understand where the original poster is going with the comment. it really makes no sense that a simple $20 bill would be enough for a front desk employee to risk their job. of ocurse the hotel management is going to know the upgrade happened. everything i logged on their computerized reservation system.

which brings me to the conclusion that the hotel is aware this is going on, and probably encourages it. by giving a guest a ';complimentary'; upgrade you%26#39;ve made a positive impression on a guest. which in the extremely competitive vegas market is key.

i have used the ';trick'; and it has worked for me. do i believe i got lucky? no. i think its all part of the expereince...

karb88, I think you hit it on the head. How many people think they have beaten the system and area special because they got something special for just flahing a $20. They cam%26#39;t do it at home but they sure feel special doing in LV. That%26#39;s one of the best parts of Vegas. Anyone can feel special.

the check in personnel have guidelines to follow - and those guidelines will change daily based on availability.

the only way to know if the bribe works is this: ask for an upgarde, get turned down, give the clerk $20 and ask again, get upgrade.

tipping for a better seat at a show is MUCH different than a room upgrade.

the hotel management know EXACTLY what is happening at the front desk, they know EXACTLY what rooms are assigned and know exactly what upgrades, if any, the check in personnel can issue.

We got a suite for a night at Paris by telling them it was our annivesary, which it was. No tip, just politely asked. After we went to the jacuzzi room with sweeping city views, I went back and gave the girl $20.

I thought that was nice. I wouldn%26#39;t have the nerve to do it before.

Oh, and also the other nights of the stay she gave us a nice strip view in a nice regular room. I wanted a view and politely asked.

As for drinks, I tipped $1 each time and sometimes they came back and sometimes they didn%26#39;t....to me, it depended on the casino. The people that didn%26#39;t tip, she came back to them just as often..She just would tell us ';good luck'; and nothing to the non-tippers. But we figured free drinks, might as well give her $1.