marvanit

How is it risking someone's job? All they have to say is no.

marvanit

YAWN! If you have to tell people how important you are, you aren't that important.

DJGMaster1

The person offering a tip for a service perk is not endangering anyone's job. The person who is in a position to accept that tip will act in the manner that they perceive to be their own best interest, given all of the information that is available to them. That's one way in which a free economy functions. You are welcome to either play games at check in, or not - that is your free choice. What is NOT your free choice is to go around trying to enforce a code of behavior between transactees that has nothing to do with you personally.

waldob

+1

bigrob

After successfully pulling off the $20 trick (we always use $100 instead of a $20 and it's always for a three night, Thurs-Sun booking) at Bellagio and Palazzo and getting some crazy upgrades, we tried it at Encore the last two years we were out there. In both cases we had booked Tower Suites and were hoping to get upgraded to a Parlor or maybe a Salon. In both cases the desk clerk said they were not allowed to accept the money and that they could check for an upgrade for us, but we'd have to pay. I wasn't embarrassed. No harm, no foul.

In both cases, we did get upgraded to a Parlor Suite. The first time it cost us an extra $150 a night, the second an extra $100 a night. Sure, not as cheap as pulling off the $20 trick, but on both weekends, that Parlor Suite was running $600 a night more than the Tower Suite so it was still a real good deal. I'm not really cool like the previous poster that can afford whatever suite he wants--$1000 a night is a bit rich for my blood, but me and my two friends can swing $500 a night, so this is pretty essential strategy for us to get the real big suites.

My advice--if you have flexibility, book a time when room rates are cheapest because that's when there is the most availability. We go every September for three nights. We know that suites on Labor Day weekend are expensive and the third weekend in Sept is a tough one as well since it's Mexican Independence Day and Wynncore brings in all it's high roller Mexican clientele then. So we pick the second and fourth weekend. This year we decided to go the fourth weekend, but then when the Iheartmusic festival announced it would be in Vegas that weekend, the suite rates went through the roof and we knew it would be tough to upgrade that weekend so we moved to the second weekend. Hopefully that remains a lower weekend.

waldob

I would be interested to see how this worked out for the OP...

I booked 5 nights at the Encore in August and will be giving it a try. Thinking of trying with $100, possibly more, we'll see how it works out.

whzup444

Checked in today at the Encore. All I had to do was ask the woman at the counter about the current upgrade options. She brought out a guide book to each room and explained the differences and added costs. Tower Suites were an extra $35, Parlor Suites $100, and the level above that was $200/night. Upgrading meant eliminating the Resort Fee, so it was a simple $10/night to upgrade to the Tower Suites (which gave us exclusive pool access, free in-room breakfast served daily, private elevator, etc.). Given there are two of us, the free breakfast justifies the $10 no problem.

Happy with the cheapness of the options. But, assume this is because we're arriving mid-week in the Summer.

irmster

Nice one - this is indeed the best strategy at Wynn/Encore if you want an upgrade. A lot less tacky than handing over a bill or 2, which inevitably gets handed back anyway at the Wynn properties.

DJGMaster1

Except that there are several existence proofs that the word "invariably" is an inaccurate description of the likelihood of succeeding with a gratuity at Wynncorp. That being said, if the actual cost of the desired upgrade was in fact only $10 a day, one might as well pay it and be confident that one has exactly the type of room that they desire.