Tacky or not, it works in Vegas. I've done the Bellagio trick as well. But I cannot imagine it working anywhere else.

I would feel awkward attempting this outside of Vegas. But given how decent the Delano's FHR rates have been recently, I haven't even tried.

Great feedback. I've never used it, but wondered if others did outside of Vegas.

DH did it once in Vegas (only $20) and got a beautiful luxury suite for a week that was about 3 bumps up from what we paid for. Tacky or not, DH is planning to try it with a larger tip in Mexico soon where we've read online that people have been successful with getting very nice upgrades. If it doesn't work, no biggie.

As far as the American tipping issue goes, I don't mind tipping for good service. Although we did get laughed at a bit by a restaurant server in Ireland when we wanted a midnight snack. They didn't offer an official "room service" and after the food arrived, I realized that I couldn't carry 4 meals upstairs by myself. (Lesson learned - in Europe they use real dishes!) It was just funny, because we were trying to tip the server who was kind enough to ride up in the elevator with some munchies. Anyway, he just started laughing, saying no, no, no. He refused the tip because he didn't feel that he had done anything special which of course made us love Ireland even more.

Anyway, after having just gotten back from Europe, we thought that service fee meant tip, but we had a situation with GrubHub when we ordered delivery for 2 people. This restaurant was different from most and charged not just a delivery fee, but also a service fee. (Lunch after taxes would have been about $22, but after the two fees was around $33 - $35.) Anyway, we assumed based on the amount of the service fee that it was a tip for the driver, so we didn't tip them in cash. Please keep in mind that in our area a $3 - $5 delivery fee is the norm. The result - our GrubHub account got cancelled! Had the restaurant been more transparent we would have tipped or chosen a different restaurant, but we both felt frustrated that tipping has become mandatory vs being a choice.

So, to all Americans or those visiting, service fees may or may not = tip and beware if you irk a GrubHub driver. :)

The real trick is getting upgraded without a monetary incentive.

I have a friend who does it regularly when he travels with family (4 kids!). He says it worked almost everywhere he has been, getting him larger rooms, free breakfasts, etc. Of course, maybe they also took pity on him seeing 4 kids. Paying for a hotel breakfast for 6 could be quite the investment!

lol, we have 4 kids. It does make life exciting at times. :)

The house feels so quiet now that 2 are off to college.

Arriving late sometimes does the trick. Got a much better room in Rome and London last month after landing around 9 pm at LHR/FCO and making it to the hotel only around 10 pm.

That said the strategy can fire backwards. If they have only a ...... room in your category left, you'll be stuck with that. Happened a couple of years ago in IST. Arrived in the early evening, got an abysmal room and even noticed that the previous guest had left a present in the bog. Complaining didn't help.

At larger properties, they usually manage to find a more suitable room. That said, I complain very rarely about the booked room.

My USPS letter carrier in Washington DC solicited tips in advance of the holidays each year. I declined because his performance was appallingly bad. He got his revenge, of course, in numerous ways.

I actually wrote a letter to the postmaster about one particular category of 'revenge' but never got a response. Then I phoned the post office and was informed that any and all issues were to be addressed to the letter carrier himself. Turned out he was untouchable. I never even mentioned the solicitations.

Now I live out in the (exurban) countryside and the service is vastly better, and I tip $20 every year as a gesture of appreciation.

I recently saw a reddit post where they had a small basket of water/soda and pretzel snack bags with a sign that any delivery person (USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc.) should feel free to grab one. I thought it was a very thoughtful way to thank the person. You can pick up a 24 pack of water for $2.50 easily, so there's no financial burden, but if that person was thirsty at that moment from the heat, it might go a long way. Sodas might get a bit too warm for this endeavor, but water/snacks seem appropriate.

Are you Kidding me
 

those are the Countries Green is been Worshipped
if you give 50 you will get you in Presidential suite

I've been successful in Vegas as well, at Bellagio and Wynn (resort side, not TS -- $20 got UG from resort room to panoramic, but this was years ago). Never tried anywhere else.

In the hotels in which I worked, this practice was considered a bribe. It was one of the few things that was grounds for immediate dismissal. Doing it puts the Front Desk Representative in a very uncomfortable situation.

I doubt GrubHub would cancel your account for not tipping. Did they give you any explanation? Perhaps the driver made up a story? Even then, it seems strange that they would not communicate with you first.

They did and we had used them numerous times for at least a year. I have no clue what the driver said because it wasn't worth the hassle to call GrubHub when I could just sign up again (which I did). That was the explanation we came up with because they were the only company we ordered from that week and we are only assuming that it was because of the service fee/delivery fee. We noticed it about 4-5 days later when we were allowed to be in our account, but zero restaurants were available to order from. (Normally there are 40+) We gave it some time, checked again...same issue. Created a new account and everything was fine. If it wasn't a tip issue, then it was a software glitch because we only saw the driver long enough to sign and say Thank You.