Upgrade Tips for Encore

First time poster-

Recently booked a trip to the Encore for 3 nights in June. Got a relatively good deal online (at least I thought it was)...$160/nt including taxes for a Panoramic King in the Encore with a $100 resort credit.

Anyway, it would obviously awesome to get upgraded to a Tower Suite or other Suite at check-in but I'm not sure how to go about it. I've heard of the "$20 trick", but not sure if this works at Encore. Anyway, just wanted any suggestions on how to do this. I wouldn't mind paying a little bit more, but want to get the best deal I can.

Encore is pretty "by the book" on upgrades. Your best bet is to book the room you want. The $20 trick has not been very successful at Encore. A lot depends on how long you are staying. The shorter the stay, the easier to secure an upgrade, but be prepared to spend at least $50 a night for an upgraded room.

Hmmm....So I've been researching at definitely feel like Tower Suites seems like a good deal. You get Free Internet + Extra Pools + Gym/Spa Access + Free Breakfast or Lunch. Also, they don't charge the $25/day resort fee. I'm going on vacation mainly to relax and stay around the hotel rather than gamble and party.

Do you think it's worth waiting until check-in time to ask for an upgrade? I'm staying for 3 days...midweek from Tuesday-Friday last week in June. I don't imagine this is the busy time...and I know the Encore is usually less full than the Wynn. Don't want the Tower Suites to fill up though. But, also feel like I could pay a bit less if I wait. I'd be upgrading from a Panoramic Suite so I couldn't imagine it'd be more than $50 extra a day (and really only $25 considering there would be no resort fee).

This is Vegas. There's now no such thing as a really 'quiet' midweek, so be prepared to pay for the upgrade (no, not the $20/50/100 trick) or prebook the upgrade by calling them now.

No matter what you hear, Wynncore employees are trained NOT to accept bribes for room upgrades. I've seen front desk folks lose their jobs for playing that game and getting caught. Steve Wynn knows that bottom line, he needs to sell those rooms in this economy. Unless you're rated and have a host, just being given a suite is highly unlikely. The most you'll get for free would be a higher floor, but to me that's not an upgrade.


Call Wynncore and see what they offer you to bump up now.



BN

No, it's just up. Missing the grade.

I've succeeded in getting a 2 Queen room for a 4 night stay at Wynn for the $20 trick, when my room was purchased on Priceline. 2 Queens is a $30+tax/nt upsell from the standard 1 King room, but they took the tip for the upgrade instead. I was happy to pay $20 for an upgrade that otherwise they would have sold me for $130 (total cost for 4 nights, tax included). They also moved me up to a more desirable floor.

This upgrade wouldn't be available at Encore, though, only at Wynn. But it puts to rest the myth that the $20 trick can't work at a Wynncore hotel. It can, it just depends upon the situation. You might get lucky as I did. BTW, I was certainly NOT a rated gambler at Wynn, or anywhere else in Vegas at the time - I had never stayed at the place before.

Judging by the post above, the $20 trick apparently can work at Wynncore. You really have nothing to lose by trying.

My technique is as follows: Establish rapport with the front desk guy/gal, I usually aim for a younger looking guy (I'm a guy too). As he/she is working the computer, ask if there happens to be any better rooms available (state the special occasion if there is one). As you ask this and continue your chit/chat, open your wallet, and discreetly hold a $100 bill in your hand (ensuring he/she sees you pull the bill out of your wallet) but do not hand it over. I'll usually roll it up in my hand so that the managers or other employees won't see it. If they say there isn't anything available, then you lose nothing, and there is no awkwardness in having the money returned to you. If he/she gives the upgrade for free, you're a winner and you hand the money after the transaction and you receive your room keys as a "tip".

It's not a bribe, ok well maybe it is. People may call me cheap, but I actually think this is a really fun way to start a trip in Vegas by "gambling" a bit at check-in. It's not that I don't have the money to pay for an upgrade upfront, it's that if I can save $200+ a night on a room, why not give it a try. If they decline any complimentary upgrades, you can always pay outright at the front desk. I don't see any value in booking a higher level room several days in advance.

Last Sept., I had an Encore resort room rez booked through a convention I was attending. Based on that experience it appeared that FD is trained to proactively sell the upgraded rooms by asking if you are interested in an upgrade, and then presenting a laminated card that describes the available upgrade options (e.g. TS for $75/night, 1br suite for $225/night, etc.). I ended up in a TS room for the $75/night up charge. Only downside is that because I checked in at the resort desk, I missed one of the real benefits of the TS experience, which is the dedicated FD.

I disagree. You lose face. It IS a bribe and it's nothing like bellying up to a blackjack table. Wynncore employees might offer a higher floor or a different bed combo, but that is not an upgrade folks. Front desk is told that anyone caught taking money for a better room will be terminated. I don't think it's worth risking embarrassment or someone's job for a measly $20-50 bribe.

Let me repeat: No one here has used the $20 trick to score a Tower Suite, Parlor or Salon from a priceline/hotwire/hotels.com booking. If it ever happened in the past, it ain't happening now. Times have changed. I've stayed at Wynncore over 80 times in the past five years, I know the property, as well as most of the managers and pit crew. Why not do yourself a favor, save the trouble and simply book the room you want (or, at the very least, book with FHR or Virtuoso and hope for the best).



BN

Claiming that you lose face, and that this is a REAL loss, is complete nonsense. Either the upgrade tip works, or it doesn't. There is ZERO cost to having it fail, unless you spend your life trying to impress hotel front desk clerks. As I said, I didn't score a suite with the $20 tip, but I DID score a real bona-fide upgrade, that Wynn would have upsold me for $130 rather than my $20 tip.

There is nothing to lose in trying it. If it fails, it fails, and it costs you NOTHING. It also might even work, as it did for me at Wynn.

So let me get this straight, getting a room that I otherwise would have had to pay $130 for in an upsell, for a $20 tip instead, actually cost me a loss of face, and was not an actual upgrade, despite the higher price and the fact it was actually the upgrade I had asked for and would have had to pay for had the tip not worked? What planet do you live on, Benjamin Nicholas?

Let me repeat: No one here has used the $20 trick to score a Tower Suite, Parlor or Salon from a priceline/hotwire/hotels.com booking.
BN[/QUOTE]

Used it two months ago, and it worked. I used $40, but it did work.

Well, I live on a planet that allows me to book whatever room I want, when I want it and not have to worry about bribing for an upgrade at the desk. I also live on a planet where I can ask my host to make that happen as well. It's worked pretty well for me so far.

I'm not going to risk someone's job for a higher floor. I can afford any room I wish when I'm staying at Wynncore or MO in Vegas, and that's exactly the room I book. I don't like playing games at check-in.



BN

If you have this philosophy, what on earth are you doing here on flyertalk? This site is all about getting the best bang for your buck, and using tips and tricks to get a result; if the $20 trick has worked for some folk then who are you to say it hasn't?

Flyertalk is to share information, not just deals and getting things at some kind of extreme discount. This isn't a flea market kids.

I wouldn't have a problem with the $20 if it didn't put people's jobs at risk. I also think it's kind of funny/odd that folks think they're getting something so amazing for a Jackson when it's really just a higher floor. Instead of immediately going for the bribe, it never hurts to simply ask, with a smile, if they have higher floors available.

As for me: I fly over 350k mi a year on airlines. I stay in a lot of hotels. I'm qualified to be here.



BN

Well done you! but I already had you down as a DYKWIA anyway!