Sara8374

Anyone have any great tricks for being upgraded at no cost to suites, first class, etc...??? Would love to hear what type of successful attempts you have had...

gc

Very nicely tell the front desk staff that you've had a hellish trip and would greatly appreciate an upgrade if they're not too crowded.

I'll date myself here, but in the good old days, upon boarding a plane always have a $20.00 roll of quarters. Find the head flight attendant, give her (him? never) the roll and say "In case you need change. We can settle after we land."

I always drank for free, and on occaision got upgraded to business or first.

I've not tried it with a fistful of ones...

Litespeed_Chick

In the past, the mere mention of first class, not to mention free upgrades, brought about merciless flaming. I think this will be an excellent test of whether registration will foster civility.

soccr

I'll try to take this one seriously. Sara8374, one thing re:hotels you can do is join every last "frequent guest" program for every chain. It doesn't cost a cent to join, but sometimes it means an automatic upgrade when you check in if there are free rooms. Holiday Inn (Six Continent) is particularly good about this -- would like to hear of others' experiences with other chains.

gc

Maybe I'm terminally naive...

Sara8374

I am staying at Starwood Resorts and Ritz Carlton on next trip- any one had luck with those 2 chains?

JoeG

gc

You must really be dating yourself - I always thought a roll of quarters was $10.00!!!!

JoeG

soccr

Starwood (we knew it, "gc," as the Sheraton chain) has a membership promotion going on -- sweepstakes -- so go to http://www.starwood.com/preferredgue...promoID=SWEEPS and take a chance. It couldn't hurt!

Less likely to be treated "specially" by Ritz-Carlton people. Upscale is and upscale does.

Also, gc, I used to travel in Europe with a stash of brand-new Kenedy half-dollars -- which will most certainly date me! They were mostly well received (although I'd never use them instead of what should have been a larger tip).

gc

JoeG,
Yeah, they were worth a lot more back then!...8^)

Sarah,
Do you have any reason to believe that the Starwood and Ritz chains would have some super secret rules outside common courtesy?

Do what soccr suggests, be nice, and hope they're not totally booked when you show up.

BeachBoi

I usually do not stay in Ritz Carlton or any other ritz-fritzy hotel.But sometimes I have no choice.I was checking into the Ritz Palm Beach and the desk clerk looked at me as if I were lost.He asked me if I "would like" an ocean view room.I thoght he was being nice.When I checked out,believe me it was not gratis.Thats the first time I had ever checked into a hotel without the desk clerk reconfirming the rate I was getting.I really felt out of place the whole time.But it was "nice" dont get me wrong.

nina

Beachboi, you paid for the upgrade? I think I would have disputed that, he really should have told you he was going to charge extra for it.

Anyway, we get upgraded quite often. GC is correct, be nice from the getgo, ask the clerk how their day is going, chat a bit, flirt, say that you'd love to have a room on the club level/ocean front/suite/whatever if there is one available. If it isn't too much trouble and there is one empty would it be possible for us to have it? Thank you so much, that's so nice of you!

We've never offered money, never had to.

Fantasia

I always get comp upgrades by showing my boobs. No need to ask, just let those babies out for air. Works like a charm.

Paul

Fantasia,

You remind me of that ol' aquaintance of mine, Anestesia Beaverhausen.

joan

After reading so many posts here about this I thought I'd give it a try (can't remember the chain but it was something low-level like Comfort Inn). Got to the front desk after waiting in line for awhile...noticed the clerk was great at his job - and told him so. Asked for an upgrade to a whirlpool suite for my husband and I - and got it!!! (Room was a Priceline room too!) Well, we practically ran up to our room, filled that tub as quick as you please, poured two glasses of wine, jumped out of our clothes, took one look at the scum floating on top of that tub water, noticed the carpet in that whole area was wet, and definitely got out of the mood ASAP!

Moral of the story: be careful what you ask for - you might get it!

Flyboy

It is important to join and understand loyalty programs if you want to receive upgrades. Some chains are more consistent than others and individual properties within those chains are different concerning upgrades, too. It seems as if most of the programs have undergone some type of devaluation in their points over the past couple of years. And as others have stated above, be VERY nice to the desk clerk because that person has more power than you think. (Same goes for gate agents at airlines). Some days you can pick up a suite in a packed house and other days you couldn't buy an upgrade in a place that is two-thirds empty, in my experience.

Sara8374

Thanks for everyone's advice....

Leona

Two things:
Anastasia, does it work with both men and women agents?

Mr. Quarter roll, I think that trick still works in Bosnia. Does anyone out there fly BAL?

GoTravel

Agree with others, join hotels frequent guest program and only stay with them. As for flying in FC, you aren't going to get free upgrades to First Class unless you are a super frequent flyer; flying in excess of 100,000 miles a year.

RnR

gc,
I thought you were supposed to put the roll of quarters in your trousers. ;>)