TALK YOUR WAY TO A HOTEL UPGRADE

Get the most for your hotel dollar by paying for one of their least expensive rooms, but staying in one of their most luxurious. How? By asking for an upgrade! If a hotel doesn’t expect to be full, they will usually gladly put you in a better room than you paid for, rather than have it stay empty. It’s a win-win situation – you’re happy to have “gotten something for nothing” and the hotel knows that treating customers well often pays off handsomely in return visits. So don’t be shy – ask for the upgrade! Here are some tips:

Time it right. One of the best strategies for getting a better room is to check in after dinner (the later the better). By this time, the hotel will have a good idea of how many rooms might stay empty, and will be in a better position to grant your request. Alternatively, you might check in early in the day before all the rooms have been vacated – this works especially well if you are flying east and arriving at your destination in the morning.

Be specific in your reservation. If you prefer a no-smoking room with a king-sized bed, or a quiet room away from the elevator, make sure that you specify this request when you make your reservation. If the hotel can’t meet your request for the room grade you’ve paid for, they are likely to bump you up to the next level. (And if they don’t, be sure to take action: if a hotel fails to meet a confirmed request for a particular type of room, and you can prove that you confirmed it, that's grounds for a free night's stay.)

Tout your special event. Are you celebrating a birthday, anniversary or the first weekend away without the baby? Let the desk clerk know and hint that you’d like to make it an annual event.

Join frequent-guest programs. You don’t have to stay at a chain often to take advantage of these. Like frequent-flyer programs, they are free to join, and often pay off handsomely with benefits. Flashing your card often increases your chance of an upgrade, because it signifies an interest in the hotel. You can even show a card from a competing hotel's program and say "I'm interested in how your larger rooms compare with your competition. Would you mind checking with your supervisor to see if such a room might be available?" You'd be surprised by how often this works.

Express familiarity with the hotel or chain. You want to come off as someone who can give the hotel lots of business. So if you’ve stayed there before, be sure to mention how much you enjoyed it. And if you haven’t, do some research (perhaps by looking up the property in our hotel guide at http://www.theinsider.com/hotelreservations.htm) about the particular room type you want.

Above all, be polite. We can’t emphasize enough the enormous power that the desk clerk has over whether you’ll end up in a five-star suite or a tiny room next to a noisy construction area. So be friendly, polite and a little chatty. We once stood in line behind a hot shot whose request for an upgrade was turned down because of a bad attitude, only to be upgraded to one of the finest suits we’ve ever stayed in, only moments later, simply because we spent a minute empathizing with the clerk over the nasty way he had just been treated.

Ready, set, go!
Now that you know all the tricks of the trade, are you ready to reserve a room? Click here to book a hotel at a tremendous discount, and then use the insider tips above to upgrade when you check in.

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