The tip trick is a great idea. Since so many hotel employees earn a portion of there salary from tips, it would not seem unreasonable to tip the front desk clerk also. If a clerk rejects the money (he/she must be new), say something like "oh,I thought you were supposed to tip everyone in these nice hotels". I plan to use the tip trick on my next vacation. That being said, I would be very surprised if hotels really allowed their desk staff to pocket money that the hotel itself should be making by charging for an upgrade. While it is good for us to share our "tip" on tipping, it is probably not prudent to boast about specific hotels commonly accepting these tips. If the hotel itself catches wind of it, they may put a stop to it, as well as dicipline any friendly front desk clerk clerk who happens to be caught accepting these tips. I have used priceline several times in the past and very often the person at the front desk is accomodating even without a tip. My first 7 night stay in SF, I tipped the desk clerk $10 after the fact because he accomodated my room request politely. I dont think theres anything wrong with being a little generous with the tipping when you are paying half price for a room and saving $90 a night. It helps to reverse the "priceline stigma". Same goes for the maid. It's pretty sad that most people tip the maid less than the bellhops and valets. The maids have the hardest and sometimes probably the nastiest job out of them all. To leave them $1 on a room that goes for over $100 a night is pretty paltry. Maybe $1 cut it 20 years ago, but get with the times. $1 is nothing nowadays, we pay more than that for a cup of coffee. Especially when you are gettin g the room for such a bargain. C'mon, be a big shot and leave a $5 for the maid for a night. They will be most gracious. I have never worked for tips, but I can put myself in the shoes of those who do, so I tip nicely and encourage others to do the same.
