Hotwire Hotel: 4.5* Las Vegas Strip MGM Grand 5/25/03

[nsx]

Greetings all,

I just place an order for a 4.5* for 5/25 - 5/26 hoping that it was MIrage as this thread has suggested. My order came back as MGM Grand :) . oh well, hope this post helps someone out in the future.

[thereuare]

Did you happen to write down the amenities that it showed before your purchase (and how much)?

That info would help A LOT!

Thanks for posting, and welcome to BetterBidding!

[Scorp]

Did you happen to write down the amenities that it showed before your purchase ... ?

With the way this is worded, it appears you have to note the amenities BEFORE a purchase. However, I find that I can still view the amenities on a Hotwire purchase AFTER by going to "My Account" and then clicking on "Hotel Purchases." This brings up the purchase and hotel details including all of the original amenity icons.

[thereuare]

I did a Hotwire search for your date and came up with a 4.5* on the Las Vegas Strip for $150 with the following amenities:

Casino, Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Business, Golf, Tennis, Spa

By using the Vacation Package, the above amenities are confirmed as being associated with the MGM Grand.

I then compared these amenities to the Mirage and they are actually different.

NOTE: the Mirage does NOT show a golf icon (as the MGM does)

Sorry this didn't work out as you anticipated, but this is probably a good time to reiterate the importance of matching up the star ratings and all of the icons.

Also a good time to point out that even if all the icons did match up, there's always a possibility that you may not get the hotel you think.

Hopefully your luck will be better in Vegas :)

[thereuare]

Maybe NSX's luck is changing....

If $150 was paid for this hotel, i just pulled up a rate of $130 for this date at the MGM thru Orbitz.

I've emailed NSX and suggested s/he try to put in a claim for their "Double the Difference" Guarantee.

Hopefully s/he will update us with the results.

PS- MGM website is $175

[nsx]

Hello Everyone,

I'm back from my trip. Thanks for all the replies. When I bid on the 4.5* hotel, it was last minute and it was for a friend. So it really was not a big deal whether or not we got mirage, just somewhere nice. That was my first purchase via hotwire and my post was meant to help others since there was another thread wondering what hotels were offered by the 4*5 star. Besides, I stayed at venetian and got up graded to a 1500 sq ft. suite :). I used the $20 trick at the front desk. When I checked in for my friend at MGM, I asked for an upgrade and they gave me a mini suite. So all went well and we all came back winning :o. Vegas was packed but it was fun. Now how do I get the low price guarantee thru Orbitz? :) By the way, i did pay $150 thru hotwire.

[thereuare]

Well, the idea was to show Hotwire the rate from Orbitz, but their policy is that you have to notify them with 48 hours of your booking.

As this point it's probably too late, as they also won't be able to look up Orbitz's rate (since the date has already passed), but if it's worth it to you maybe you coudl write them an email and just tell them that you're 'upset'. They probably won't do anything though at this point! (but maybe a credit for a future purchase?)

Glad to hear you won and had a good trip!

[cheezhead]

What exactly is the $20 trick? Please tell.

[thereuare]

The "$20 trick" is slipping the check-in clerk $20 while asking something along the lines of "are there any upgrades available?"

There are many varieties of how the 'trick' is done... what to say, how to keep the money until you know you're getting a true upgrade, etc, etc.

NSX.... you seem to be experienced at it, care to offer any 'techniques' to use that you've been most successful with (or perhaps what doesn't work)?

[bturner13]

I suspect that we all want to hear more about the $20 Trick! Anyone else have any suggestions?

I've used this trick in Thailand and Turkey and it worked miracles! :)

[nsx]

OK, the $20 trick is an incentive for the front desk people to help you upgrade to a better room, either at a higher floor with a view or to a suite. They have a lot of discretion on the kind of room to assign to the customer. I have been using this technique for the last 4-5 years with a high success rate on weekdays and a 50-50 chance on crowded weekends. It really depends on availability so your chances of it working is much higher when vegas is slow. What I always do is tell the front desk that I'm there for a special occasion and would like to upgrade to a suite if there is availability. Then I ask if they are allowed to receive tips and pull out a $20 bill and make sure they see it (They are definitely allowed to receive tips but ask anyways to let them know they will get something out of helping you). I usually fold the $20 bill and place it under my drivers license and leave it right in front of them. From past experience, if they can help you, they will take the tip, if they can't help, they wont take the $20.

For example, last weekend was extremely crowded at Venetian but I decided to try the $20 trick. I asked the front desk guy if an upgrade was possible . He said they were sold out for the night and it would be unlikely that anything is available. I then asked if they are allowed to receive tips as I pulled out a $20. He checked vigorously for any upgrade availability but could not find a room. Then he went to ask a supervisor but came back after 5 minutes and said we are just too crowded today, any other day I would have no problem getting an upgrade suite but it's memorial day weekend. I thanked him for trying and told him i would have really liked to tip him. He then paused and told me to wait as he is going to try something else. He went to the back room area and came back ten minutes later and gave me a big suite. I must say that he really pulled some strings because I was at the front desk for 30 minutes before getting a room.

Some people believe that the $20 is not necessary as one can ask for an upgrade and if they have availability, they will usually upgrade you for free anyways, you just have to ask. However, I believe it's a great way to give the employees incentive to find you a suite. How many people tip the front desk when checking in? I don't think a lot of us do. They get paid by the hour and if they can upgrade you for $20, it benefits both parties. As I said before, your chances rise as availability is high and diminishes when availability is low such as this past weekend. Sometimes, things just work out with a little bit of luck :)

Now for the list of hotels that I have tried this trick

Worked: Venetian, Mandalay Bay, MGM, treasure island,

Not Work: Bellagio, Luxor

Hope this post helps and I'll check back if there are questions I can answer. :)

[amszyh]

Has anyone had any luck trying the $20 trick outside of Vegas? Do you think it would work in other large metropolitan areas?

[Dilbert]

Thanks for posting that. It'll help with my upcoming trip to Vegas.

One question though - how do you know you've been upgraded even if they say you've and they've taken your money?

'They'll only take your money if they can upgrade you' doen't seem too reliable to me. :) :)