Las Vegas Hotel: tipping at check-in for upgrade?

[tuapekastar]

I could not countenance doing this. Not so much for moral or ethical reasons (though it probably fails on both counts), but just because it is silly, and while I like an upgraded room or suite as much as anyone else. I wouldn't be booking a room I wasn't prepared to (happily) sleep in.

PS. This does not mean I don't do silly things from time to time.

 

[chrisb]

Put simply: you are paying an employee money for them to give you something belonging to their employer. No different than 'tipping' a barman or waiter in the same hotel for them to give you free drinks/meals - or maybe there are websites devoted to meal 'upgrades' as well .

How is this different to bars? One of the tips in the US is to tip well on the first drink and hopefully your drinks will be mixed a lot stronger and I've also had the waitress show up with a tray of free shots. This is the same thing - You're tipping the staff to effectively give you free alcohol owned by their employer.

I'm facing this issue in Vegas in a couple of months. We have quite a nice room at the Bellagio booked and I'll be happy with it but they want $900 extra for the same class of room overlooking the fountains. I'm not willing to pay that but if the option is there at check in to tip then maybe I will. That is the culture they have built for themselves.

I do have an issue doing it though. It does seem more like a bribe than a tip and that upsets my moral compass slightly.

 

[RooFlyer]

How is this different to bars? One of the tips in the US is to tip well on the first drink and hopefully your drinks will be mixed a lot stronger and I've also had the waitress show up with a tray of free shots. This is the same thing - You're tipping the staff to effectively give you free alcohol owned by their employer.

Agree - no different.

 

[Alanslegal]

As if hotel management don't know about it.....

(This is Vegas we are talking about)

I think knowing what happens and how to enforce / mitigate it happening are two different things. Some would never try this "tip" technique at Wynn or the Four Seasons, reports indicate that don't even bother as staff wouldn't be induced for that trick, but why is it OK to do so at other resorts? Comes down to management not setting the rules in place. I can totally understand why management can easily overlook this, especially mid week where without a convention, Las Vegas can be pretty quiet and with 3,000 rooms most of the large resorts havel, upgrades will be pretty easy to score and not going to affect anything.

 

[chrisb]

Vegas may have an issue where they need a lot of premium product for certain events or groups but need a lot of basic product for conventions and the like. This leads to them selling basic rooms knowing full well that they will need to upgrade people but it's better to have them in a room than them going somewhere else that does have a cheaper rate.

Then you have the issue of how to decide who gets upgraded. Maybe they've just decided to leave it to staff discretion after they've automatically taken care of people they know are of high value.

If they wanted to stop the tipping issue they would. Every centimetre of those places is captured on CCTV and I imagine the staff working in casinos (even outside the casino area) are very well trained on fraud.

 

[legroom]

So where else do you bribe people? Just wondering.

And is there anybody/profession you wouldn't try to bribe?

I wouldn't think of it as a "bribe", more like a tip and a "Thank You".

After all, we asking some low-paid clerk to do us a favour which they are not obligated to do.

I did keep a $50 note in my passport when asking for 2x exit row seats in SGN last year.

It worked !

Phone calls were made instantly to release the seats for us.

Just wondering..... anyone trying the same thing in Oz (hotel or airport) ??

 

[dfcatch]

It's not bribery - it's tipping, plain and simple.

I can understand why Australians are offended by the suggestion, or it upsets their "moral compass", but it's the way it works in the US.

Management are fully aware of it and its the way the system works.

In the hotels where this works - I'm quite sure there are policies about what front desk staff can and can't do.

Tipping is on equality with polite manners. In fact, not tipping is considered rude.

This is just an extension of it.

That said - at the elara I received my diamond upgrades with no check-in tip. If I was staying somewhere else I might try it.

 

[Moody]

It's not bribery - it's tipping, plain and simple.

I can understand why Australians are offended by the suggestion, or it upsets their "moral compass", but it's the way it works in the US.

Management are fully aware of it and its the way the system works.

In the hotels where this works - I'm quite sure there are policies about what front desk staff can and can't do.

Tipping is on equality with polite manners. In fact, not tipping is considered rude.

This is just an extension of it.

That said - at the elara I received my diamond upgrades with no check-in tip. If I was staying somewhere else I might try it.

You are living in an alternate universe to me, dfcatch.

This is the definition of a tip :- A sum of money given to someone as a way of rewarding them for their services.
This is the definition of a bribe :- Persuade (someone) to act in one's favor, typically illegally or dishonestly, by a gift of money or other inducement.

Dress your corrupt and unconscionable behaviour any way you like - you don't fool me or anyone else for that matter. It's a matter of character .....

 

[legroom]

You are living in an alternate universe to me, dfcatch.

This is the definition of a tip :- A sum of money given to someone as a way of rewarding them for their services.
This is the definition of a bribe :- Persuade (someone) to act in one's favor, typically illegally or dishonestly, by a gift of money or other inducement.

Dress your corrupt and unconscionable behaviour any way you like - you don't fool me or anyone else for that matter. It's a matter of character .....

The hotel upgrade / exit row seats etc.... are all there to be given out by the clerks given the right conditions (membership, status, absence of physical disability etc....).

They can - if they somehow dislike you (for whatever reasons incl. DYKWIA...) - turn around and say "Sorry, it is not available.."

Who I am to argue - EF seat map in hand - with them ?

Now, if the tip is going to make them "like" me (or for that matter, not dislike me..), then it is a tip to "tip the favour" in my direction.

I am not asking them to give a blind man an exit row seat, or a Y to F upgrade when you are a lowly NB.

Nor do I ask for the Presidential Suite for a $50 upgrade.

No, my tip is just that ..... a tip, not a bribe.

I am happy to stay in that non-corrupt universe with dfcatch where normal courtesy consists more than a curt "thanks".

 

[petercr]

Whilst we didn't go to Vegas on our recent US trip, the $20 trick worked well in Anaheim (where it got us a 10am check-in after having come straight from the plane at LAX) and Hollywood (at the Magic Castle where they DO deserve it and the service all-round is incredible) as well as in in New York. Our second stay in NY saw us upgraded from two plain rooms for the first stay to a junior suite and a king suite for the second stay (the first stay did get us a double room with a view on Valetines Day). Surprisingly at the Marriott in DC it got politely knocked back by the front desk agent...

Well spent investment...look out for a book called 'Heads in Beds' on the subject...it's well worth a read

 

[JohnK]

Interesting concept.

I could not do it. I would not do it. Happy to be in the room I booked....

 

[trieu_thai]

It's not bribery - it's tipping, plain and simple.

I can understand why Australians are offended by the suggestion, or it upsets their "moral compass", but it's the way it works in the US.

Management are fully aware of it and its the way the system works.

In the hotels where this works - I'm quite sure there are policies about what front desk staff can and can't do.

Tipping is on equality with polite manners. In fact, not tipping is considered rude.

This is just an extension of it.

That said - at the elara I received my diamond upgrades with no check-in tip. If I was staying somewhere else I might try it.

Well said dfcatch and I totally agree with everything!

 

[RooFlyer]

Have a think about this:

A TIP is something you give in appreciation of a good service rendered ( ie its already happened).

A BRIBE is something you pay for to obtain something (service or goods) you are not entitled to, or at a time you are not entitled to (ie its in the future).

So, if you put $X across the counter at check-in, to see what type of room you might get, which category does it sound like?

And yes, in an earlier post I acknowledge that management probably know about the practice, due to cc coverage of the check-in area. But all that means is that they are condoning a bribe. That's Vegas, I guess.

 

[oz_mark]

So, if you put $X across the counter at check-in, to see what type of room you might get, which category does it sound like?

A facilitation payment :mrgreen:

 

[Cruiser Elite]

So, if you put $X across the counter at check-in, to see what type of room you might get, which category does it sound like?

Premature recompense maybe?

 

[RooFlyer]

A facilitation payment :mrgreen:

Appreciate the :mrgreen: and give your post the in return, but 'facilitation payments', depending on circumstances, are illegal under Australian law, whether done in Australia or elsewhere. For a reason. (and yes, I'm stretching the lexicon in keeping with the tone of this thread )

 

[EvanC]

Food for thought: the formal name for a tip is a "gratuity". The same term has been used in the past for payments made to gain the favour of dictatorships and similar regimes.

That said, I don't think there's anything particularly wrong about this, assuming that the employer is aware of the practice. Not sure I'd have the guts to try it though - I'd be too embarrassed if I were to be knocked back!

 

[SeaWolf]

Not sure I'd have the guts to try it though - I'd be too embarrassed if I were to be knocked back!

That's kind of how I feel about it, but lots of people have been saying to me that's pretty normal and that you're very unlikely to get knocked back!

 

[oz_mark]

Appreciate the :mrgreen: and give your post the in return, but 'facilitation payments', depending on circumstances, are illegal under Australian law, whether done in Australia or elsewhere. For a reason. (and yes, I'm stretching the lexicon in keeping with the tone of this thread )

Just to keep stretching the lexicon, in the words of the ATO:

For tax purposes, facilitation payments are not bribes and may be deductible.

Bribes and facilitation payments: A guide to managing your tax obligations

 

[tuapekastar]

Not sure I'd have the guts to try it though - I'd be too embarrassed if I were to be knocked back!

I also would be most embarrassed at a knock-back.

In my previous post in this thread, I dubbed the practice 'silly', and on reflection that is poorly worded. People are welcome to do it if they wish (live and let live ) and are not silly for doing so, but TBH I would feel like a real goose if knocked back - but also as per my previous post, that is not the prime motivation for me not tipping check in clerks.