Years ago I was told tipping at check in at a las vegas hotel would help securing an upgrade or at least a good location. Is this still true? Also how do you and who do you politely ask for comps and any freebies? Thanks for any help!

Asking for comps/freebies will get you nowhere unless you're a major high roller. You need to join the player's club and play a LOT...

1. Tipping will usually but not always
lead to something (room upgrade,
better view, etc).
2. Comps..gamble early / gamble often. Always use your player card. If you're playing table games (i.e. BJ), ask about comps but don't be surprised if they tell you that you need to be playing $25 a hand for 1-2 hrs to get a buffett.

And you used to be able to get a better seat at the shows with a tip, too.

People on TripAdvisor are constantly telling everyone about the "free upgrades" they got but IMO it is, like Vegas itself, a crap shoot. I would be mentally prepared for both success and for failure.

To get comped you need to lose a lot - it's much cheaper just to buy what you want.

As for upgrades - if a hotel has lots of rooms they will often give an upgrade just for asking politely - no tip needed. If they're busy - a "tip" is useless - unless it's so much that paying for the upgrade would be cheaper.

(By the way - that's how you start - ask if there are upgrades available and what they cost. The answer to that question will tell you what to do next.)

Actually, I'd take issue that you need to LOSE a lot to get comped. You can also simply play a lot, breaking evern or simply win a lot. I talked with a lady who had arrived with her husband who was in convention meetings and within 2 minutes of playing her first slot she hit something like an $80,000 jackpot. The hotel moved them to a suite, comped them, gave them tickets to shows and meals, and gave them the VIP treatment. Clearly they were trying to get her to dump all her money back into the machines, but she swears she didn't play again and really isn't a gambler at all.

Meanwhile I'm not sure which is sleazier, offering a desk clerk money to give you a better room or the desk clerk taking it and doing so.

As far as getting a room with a better view you can "try" tipping the front desk clerk, if they have it and you tip they will give it to you. The person(s) to go to if you are looking for anything such as passes to clubs is either the bellman or the doorman. The doorman have the most "connections", but they will expect you to tip. As far as comps in the casino, that is only through the casino host (as mentioned, sign up with the casino's players card). Sometimes the bellman and doorman can get you better dinner reservations or passes than the hotel's concierge desk. The doorman in Vegas are an elite group, very difficult to get this position, and there is very few of them, most hotels only have about 5-10 total, they don't leave their jobs because they make great money, they know LOTS of people and can tell you where the happening spots are each night, stuff like that.
Have fun!

For a better view, all you have to do is ask at check in. The hotels have so many rooms, that all you have to do is ask. For a "free" suite, that goes hand in hand with the next paragraph...

As far a comps and freebies...we visit LV frequently and we play a lot. We either break even or come home with a lot of money (last month 15k). We do not pay for our rooms at the Bellagio ever and our casino host will reduce our check out bill or completely erase it. In order to get these perks, you have to sign up at the Players Club and use your card all the time and when visiting sister properties. You are then rated, it does not matter how much you win or lose, but it goes by your "coin in". The trick is to play with their money .

The players club desk will tell you to charge everything to your room. As you play you collect points. An hour before check out you go to the players club desk and they look at your coin in and your hotel bill and they adjust it accordingly. If you visit enough, you get a casino host who will act as your own personal concierge and will take care of everything for you (reservations, spa appointments, shows etc..) The casino really does not care if you win, the house always has the advantage and they make HUGE profits. By giving free rooms, dinners and free plays is just good business and keeps you coming back.

My husband always slips the front desk person a $20 and asks if he can "help him out" with a better room. We got a high roller's suite at Paris once - it was incredible, but we were there Sunday through Wednesday of Thanskgiving Week, not prime time for high rollers. The last time we got a free upgrade was at Caesar's right after Christmas - the front desk guy said, "This is Vegas - all you have to do is ask!" No one has ever said no.

Tip? Tip? A tip is something you give to reward for good service.

A clerk has provided no special service to be rewarded with a tip. Assigning one room is no more difficult than another is.

So let's call this for what it is and ask if you should bribe the clerk for an upgrade. Just ask him or her if their integrity is low enough that they will give you something you didn't pay for at the owner's expense (or all employees when there is profit sharing). You might hit the jackpot.

Oh ... and "tip" someone where you work too so maybe you can take home some great office supplies, tools, or a computer.

Maybe I’m just naïve, a simple Midwesterner. If “tipping” someone for an upgrade in a hotel is the practice in Las Vegas, well, I can’t stop that.

But I have to concur with rb_traveler, it’s a bribe, not a tip. If the parallel thing were done in my company, you’d be off the payroll pronto. I think I’ll just ask what an upgrade cost, then decide if I want to pay for it.

Tipping is the action of yesterday. Nowadays Las Vegas requires stripping.

Comps do not work on losses. Casinos track time spent and average bet. Why? Because they have very sophisticated computer programs that calculate average amount lost based on time spent gambling and a gambler's average bet.

For example, a casino might know that the average gambler loses one average bet per hour played. So if you play blackjack for 6 hours and your average bet is $100, the casino will assume, based on statistical averages, that you lost $600.

This is the 1st number.

The 2nd number is the comp percentage; that is, what percentage of the first number a gambler will be comped. If you gamble frequently, like monthly, you may be placed in a high comp. If you only travel to LV once or twice a year, your comp % will be lower.

In the end, remarkably, it all works out so that gamblers pay basically the same amount as a non-gambler with no comps.

Ha. Funny. Bribery. It's Vegas. Everything is a gamble there, right? I actually asked this question a few years ago in regard to a stay at the Mandalay, and followed the directions given to me: I put a nicely folded $20 bill in peeking out of my ID and credit card when handing it to the clerk, I said "I'd like an upgrade please..." I didn't get a suite, although I could have had one facing the desert. My priority was a killer strip view, and so I chose to go with a great room with said view--it was a high floor smack dab in the middle of the view.

I'd rather blow $20 on the chance to upgrade my room than on the tables. I don't consider it bribery, I consider it a way to show how serious I am about getting a better view. The time before I didn't do this trick and our view was not nearly as good, and we did ask for the strip view. (It was a strip view but very askew, a partial view at best.) If the hotel offered said option for a price, maybe I'd pay it, but they don't.

Don't be fooled. Yes, the reservationists have access to lots of rooms, and perhaps it's the luck of the draw, and perhaps if you ask nicely without payment you'll get something, but I suspect that a lot of the reservationists ALSO know that they are going to be getting some cash so they save those rooms for people who know the system and work it. I don't think it's wrong and I would do it again. Those casinos have cameras on EVERYTHING and if they had a problem with the $20 trick, they would crack down on it.

I am curious to know if any Vegas clerks read these posts and can comment on this unwritten policy.

Not Vegas, but I know for fact that if front desk was caught accepting cash for giving a better room in one of my DH's hotels, s/he'd lose his job. Operative word, "caught", but that is grounds for dismissal. Those rooms DO have a price in every hotel, view, partial view, city view, bay view, what have you...the hotels charge accordingly and the variance can be pretty significant. There was a thread on this subject...or a couple of threads, within the past couple of years. I was happily surprised that the majority of posters agreed it was a bribe, rather than a "tip". People claim it flies in Vegas. I'd love to hear from someone who works there.

I agree with the statement about outside of Vegas, it seems like a bribe. I don't think I'd even ever think of doing something like that in a hotel somewhere else. I'd ask and see what I might get for free, or for a small fee. But there, it just goes along with the rest of the culture. Double standard? Maybe. But isn't all of Vegas a double standard? I seriously doubt that desk clerks would risk their job on a daily basis for a $20 here and there...which makes me think that it is probably an acceptable practice in Vegas just like LOTS of other things seem to be. Anyone?

1. The first is an upgraded view. These rooms generally sell for $15-$35 on top of your rate you are already paying per night. So if you are here 3 nights you may be paying another $50-$100 to have a view of the strip or something else.

2. The second upgrade level is a deluxe room of some sort. Generally the same size as a standard room with better amenities/furnishings. These will sell for $50-$100 extra per night.

3. The third level of upgrades would be a suite. Suite will run you $150-$1000 extra per night and they are all different sizes.

Desk clerks make commissions on upgrading people into these rooms. Somewhere between 5% and 10% of the first nights rate (some hotels even give 10% of EVERY night to the clerk.) The tip you give the clerk for giving you a better room is GREATLY appreciated. Now keep in mind that desk clerks and even the managers cannot upgrade into suites for TIPS. Suites are always held for casino players and guests who book them thru room reservations. Day of your arrival, if there are suites left for the hotel to sell, do not expect to get one by tipping the clerk $20. Don’t even expect one if you tip $300. Front Desk agents do not have the authority to assign these rooms on their own for this reason in particular. If Desk agents had access to these suites, they would be taking $100 spots all day long and putting people in them for no upgrade charges. The hotels would be losing MAJOR revenue if desk agents had a free for all access to suites.

Now Views and deluxe rooms are accessible to desk agents but these rooms are generally on some type of hold by management and the clerks need management’s approval to get one of them. If the entire hotel inventory were directly accessible by Front Desk Agents then there would be chaos. People who booked suites and deluxe rooms and views in advance would not receive them day of because they are all being given away for tips. This is why management needs to have control over their inventory of rooms.

So to answer all these questions…

Yes, if a hotel has upgraded rooms to sell and you tip $20, expect to get a nice view or maybe even a deluxe room if its avail.

NO. Do not expect a suite by tipping ANY AMMOUNT to the Agent. 99% of the time they do not have access to the suites and if they did get a hold of one, their job would be at stake. The free upgrade in a suite would be caught by management later that night when the night audit ran and they wouldn’t be coming to work the next day.

NO we do not think of tips as bribes, and if you don’t want to pay another $15-$35 per night for a view, give us a $20 or $40. We’ll find a way to make it happen.

Hope this answered most of your questions. If you have anymore, please ask. I love to hear outsider’s perspective on my city.

Oh and the three numbers at the tope represent the three typical levels of upgraded accomodations

I get upgraded 99% of the time and what I do is when I am checking in whether it is the Wynn Las Vegas or the Four Seasons in Sydney is that I ask what their name is and if they have a comment card so I can let the GM of the Hotel know how wonderful they have been and this by far goes along way then cash..plus its tacky to slip the Front Desk a tip..IMO
Also, state what you want..and be nice!