';$20 trick '; in Waikiki ( HHV )

I go to Las Vegas alot, and a popular thing is to tip the check-in clerk in hopes of a room upgrade ( standard is about $20 ).

has anyone ever tried this in Hawaii?

I%26#39;m staying at HHV in Feb. and there seems to be wide variety of room types ( towers, views, etc )

Usually clerks have a great amount of freedom when checking people in, is this the case at HHV ?

Troy

';$20 trick '; in Waikiki ( HHV )

It is not a common ploy in Hawaii....

And, a nice smile and cute story will get you just as far. Plus, you may blow away the poor desk clerk who doesn%26#39;t know what to do.

The biggest obstacle to an upgrade is the time of year you are traveling. February is an exceptionally busy month, so there are fewer open rooms to be upgraded to.

';$20 trick '; in Waikiki ( HHV )

Amberloo...

what about October...do you think the availability of upgrading will be greater or lesser?

Upgrades happen for lots of reasons (and Yes October is one of the ';slow'; months but even still that may not get you one).

1. There has to be a room available..actually in truth, more than A room because there is always the chance of a walk up customer.

2. Joining the hotels frequent stay program does help even if you have never stayed at one of their hotels.

3. As was said, a cute story, a smile, some casual chit chat...basicly be a nice person and treat the check in person as a person.

4. Never ever demand an upgrade....ask as nicely as possible if it might be possible to get one.

5. Don%26#39;t expect one because you are on your honeymoon or celebrating an anniversary....about 80% of the vistors fit that catagory though it doesn%26#39;t hurt to point out why you are there.

6. Don%26#39;t expect to get the best room in the place if your original reservation is for the cheapest ';dumpster view'; you picked up on priceline. You might get a partial garden view from that level but not an ocean front. Reserve the least expensive room you will be happy with then hope for an upgrade. If you don%26#39;t get one at least you are going to get what you asked for in the first place. It has been my experiance (and others may vary) that if you book garden view you get upgraded to partial ocean, partial ocean will go to ocean front (or at least a really good partial ocean) and ocean front might get you an upgrade to a top floor suite.

As to the 20 buck bribe...I have a feeling if you do that in hawaii they may have trouble finding your reservation...I have never heard of anyone even trying it in Hawaii.

From what I have seen hawaii rooms are always preassigned unlike vegas where they pick you out a room when you show up, also hawaiians just do not like change very much, so I am guessing it would not go over very good. What has worked for us when we are return visitors to a hotel, a week before you show up send a check for the room price to the hotel manager and write a letter on how much you like the hotel and are excited about returning, we have gotten some great rooms off this and a few of those fruit basket type things.

thanks for the tips guys.

actually i%26#39;ve never done the $20 in Vegas - usually being very nice ( I AM Canadian afterall ) works really well. I%26#39;ve had a couple super nice upgrades in Vegas for free.

always worth a pleasant request I figure....

T

';I AM Canadian afterall'; - I find this comment to be very humorous. It has been my experience that the Canadian guests of Hawaii (In general, not all - as I have met some terrifically nice ones) to be the worst travelers of them all! They are the cheapest, expect the most and throw hissyfits when things don%26#39;t go their way.

If I were you, I would actually book for the room you want and not hope for an upgrade... hoping only gets you so far.

Geez, Sound....

Your first post and it is a smack-down on the Canucks. A little chip on the old shoulder, eh?

If this is a sign of things to come, your future posts will be breathlessly awaited.

(And, don%26#39;t forget to make fun of their colored money, Molson, their dependance upon America, and how they say ';about';)

You forgot love of hockey and curling amerloo....lol

I have always found out that a box of See%26#39;s chocolates from California with a great attitude has helped out my upgrade requests wherever I have been going to, especially Hawaii.

From the Plane to the Car Rental to the Hotel.

Rember you do not always know what you are going to get.

Run Troy run.

Apologies to FG

gmc

See%26#39;s chocolates are available here in Hawaii. They have a store at Ala Moana.

No need to haul them from California.