5 Tips To Getting Hotel Suite Upgrades For Free

I count sixteen exclamation points. Anybody find more than that?

I count 21, but some word have more than one exclamation points.

Ok so I cheated and just used the search function in Firefox.

great article and very helpful as i never really paid attention to hotel upgrade possibility in the past. love the advice about not fearing rejection. applies to so much in life as well.

@ Dax -- Gonna go out on a limb and say that most people have better things to do than search exclamation points in a 2,200 word blog post. Stay busy, my friend!

Yup 21

@Dax and @NoName - who cares. it's good information

"Top of the muffin to you!"
On a serious note, good article even if a bit lengthy.

"@ Dax — Gonna go out on a limb and say that most people have better things to do than search exclamation points in a 2,200 word blog post. Stay busy, my friend!"

You know it! I'm currently planning some trips to Asia. Trying to decide between Macadamia Air, Missing Airways, and Early Arrivals.

I think one other factor here is Asia. Was SPG Gold last year, and Platinum this year. Every time I was at a Starwood property in Asia, I was upgraded with little drama at both levels.

In the US, in my experience, upgrades are rare. And usually only after a fight - as Ben has written about in the past.

Overall, good for you and the family, but interested to see if anyone else's luck with upgrades is regionally similar.

Ok, I'm back this week to acknowledge that this is good stuff -- good information, solid title at the top, no embellishment. I think, as you also point out, that the "sympathy factor" of having a couple of small kids may have played no small part in your success.

And that reminds me of the time quite some years ago that we got operationally upgraded to a Tower Suite for four nights -- a big deal, by the way, complete with a massive crystal chandelier in the dressing room -- after a post-midnight arrival at the Waldorf. This was strictly a one-night upgrade, I was told. The next morning I came down by myself and politely begged the desk agent not to disappoint my wife by making us move out for our remaining three nights. After saying, "Let me see what I can do, and I'll give you a call," he called us ten minutes later with the balance of our four-night upgrade. That dressing room with the chandelier still lives in my memory to this day.

@ Rolo T - well played! Mr. Lippman was not a fan of the hated punctuation mark either.

I don't think I could bring myself to ask for a suite at checkin if I weren't entitled to one (at least on a "subject to availability" basis). I'm not saying it's wrong to ask. It's not. But I just don't have the cheek to do it.

I guess what shocks me is that someone playing this game would so routinely use hotel-provided airport transportation. One of the worst deals going, yet it doesn't seem to faze you. Do you do research before you use the hotel's resources?

The fact that you do likely gives you "extra credit" in upgrade consideration, as you've contributed to margins with the transport. Thrree of your five upgrades were in conjunction with airport pick-up.

Thank you for informative article. I got my Carlson Gold status a year ago and so far I was able for get an upgrade to the suite 2 out of 2 times (New York City and St. Martin).

In NYC I booked thru Chase and according to several reps, if you book thru the third party you are not entitle to members benefits. I got upgraded to the suite anyway but have not received in room gift.

Interesting point Colleen. I usually avoid hotel transport at all costs because I am a cheapskate. Might have to rethink that if it potentially impacts upgrade probability.

Travis, my mother has always told me the same thing "the squeaky wheel gets the grease!" It's amazing what hotels will do for you if you just ask politely. I'll frequently contact the GM of a hotel in advance and ask for a free upgrade. Doesn't happen all the time, maybe 30-50% consistently, but I don't expect it to. Even works at hotels without loyalty programs, like for example the Four Seasons Scottsdale recently and the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

Disclaimer: I included 1 exclamation point in this reply.

Thanks for post. How well have these techniques worked in EU or US? SE Asia is more accommodating when comes to customer service? On FT someone pointed out to me in a thread that upgrades also depend on the type of room and quality hotel you book. Fancier hotels tend to have more larger rooms to upgrade you too.

Great tips, Travis, thanks! I'm going to give it a whirl w/ our upcoming Lucky/Tiffany-inspired trip to Egypt!

Neil --

Interesting comment about Asia. My previous belief was that Asia was, by and large, "by the book" in that if the rules said "no suite upgrade at your status level". But maybe that was more Japan, Korea, China, rather than SE Asia?

I wish I had another month to go find out!

Tom:

The "two pre-schoolers in tow" sympathy factor could definitely be in play. But while we're building the regression model, let's also include the fact that I was on crutches for this trip. So that's two major sympathy points right there.

Hey Lucky, would you be interested in taking my kids for a few weeks to test out whether they increase your hotel upgrade chances? Could be a good experiment. (I'm joking. Or am I?)

Levy:

I'm trying to recall where else I've had unentitled suite upgrades. Ones that come to mind --

South and Central American: Radisson Montevideo, Country Inn and Suites Panama Canal.

Europe: Can't think of any.

US: Too many Hyatt's to count. As a Diamond, I have great success at getting suites at check-in, which is good, because 4 DSU's wouldn't be enough for me. (I've thought about writing a post about this.)

I'm going to take the opposite side and say that the fanciest hotels are more likely to follow the book and not upgrade you. I don't really have data to back that, just a gut feeling. Obviously you need to be at a fancy enough hotel that actually has suites to upgrade you to, but maybe not too much? Let's just say that asking the Hyatt Place for a suite probably isn't going to work too well...... 🙂

In defense of the IC Singapore, the Shop(house) rooms are quite a lot larger than their regular room and you shouldn't be expecting upgrades with an IC when you're not Ambassador. As a Platinum Ambassador, I had to beg to get upgraded to the Shop(house) Suite and honestly I was underwhelmed when I did get it.

Colleen:

The hotel transportation comment is interesting. First, in my younger days, I would agree with you that it is way overpriced. I'm the guy who couldn't find the entrance to the Park Hyatt Tokyo because I walked the 3/4 mile from the train station!

But I'm not quite as cheap as I used to be. For this trip, we had two pre-schoolers and me on crutches. We were definitely willing to pay a bit more to avoid the "BS" that can go on in the arrivals hall when trying to arrange transportation. When your kids are on the verge of melting down, there's something comforting about walking out of immigration and seeing your name on a sign and a guy who is grabbing your bags and loading them in the van. As I think Gary says, "sometimes you hire a tout to protect you from the other touts!" I guess I'm willing to pay something to have the hotel keep me away from the touts.

But how much am I willing to pay? For the Four Points, research on FT indicated that they charged perhaps 20% more than "retail". That seemed a small price to pay. I honestly don't think the front desk really cared one way or the other, but who knows.

At the Radisson Brunei, they actually subcontract their airport pickup to Avis (literally, it's just a rental car and driver), so I don't think they care one bit about whether you use it or not. There again, the cost was about 20% more than a cab so in my mind, not much. And cabs in Brunei can be hard to find (I read there are only 40 in the whole country), so I didn't want to gamble on their being on waiting at the airport.

Now at the Grand Hyatt KL, they wanted more than DOUBLE what I knew we could get a taxi for. 100% mark up? Sorry, that's where I draw the line.

So while I appreciate your looking for factors that could have increased my chances, I honestly don't think this is one. I think having kids in tow and being on crutches would carry more weight.

Finally, I count 2 of the 5 as having paid for the airport pickup. The Sheraton Jakarta doesn't count cause it's a free shuttle.

Tom, Dax(!), and others:

Thanks for giving me another chance. Means a lot. I'm a STEM guy in my day job. I write a decent number of technical papers and stuff, but I'm lucky if 10 people ever read them (5 of which are probably on my team!) And in my field, people tip-toe around, never wanting to offend anyone, so you never know what they really think. It's pretty awesome (ok, and sometimes scary) to get honest and real feedback. I appreciate it.

I can't promise you'll like everything I write, but I'd be thrilled if you keep telling me what you think of it.

And Dax, thanks for pointing out that I have a (!) fetish. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that I write technical papers and never get to use one? So maybe I have years of pent-up frustration and its coming out....

I'll try to keep my excitement in check. No promises though!

You get upgraded more often when you use hotel transportation.

I've been enjoying your posts--a really fresh perspective and I can definitely relate more now that we have a little one. I totally understand wanting/needing two separate rooms so the baby can go down and adults have some relative peace. I Initially thought it would be cost prohibitive for us but this post gave me some hope! Thanks!

The idea to email the hotel with the premise of arranging ground transportation was smart. Did you ask about pricing before sending an authorization email?

Good post Travis. Fwiw, i stay at CP Changi a few times a year and always get suite upgrade as an IHG Plat. No lounge access, but get a drink coupon at check-in. Nice suites and great hotel.

Christian --

The hotels generally told me their pricing in their response. I then replied to confirm.

I honestly did not think that using the hotel transportation from the airport (for a fee) was a means of increasing my upgrade chances, but multiple comments here seem to think it does. Would be interested to hear more thoughts on this from folks.

Carl -- thanks for confirming my research that shows Platinums get suites at the CP Changi!

Wow. Who knew this would be an effective way to mooch off a free suite?

Obnoxious, grasping, entitled. Why not pay for the two rooms you so obviously need? Others should be dispossessed because you travel with your brats in tow?

@Jackie Coakely – “Obnoxious, grasping, entitled”…..you describe yourself perfectly.

This is a super useful post. Thank you!

Travis, great post. We actually find our Platinum IHG status to be among the most upgradeable. We also find a lot of luck getting upgrades in the Middle East and Asia (where we live) because people seem flattered by our little blonde son and are very kind when we ask for extra room for the baby.

Question, when you email the hotel, who do you email? Main generic hotel email? GM? Director of rooms? Front office?

@ Jackie Coakley. Hotels can always say no to an upgrade. No one is being coerced...

Excellent post. This goes on my list of blog links to save for future perusal.

I took this post as an encouragement. I'll definitely start asking. I don't considered it entitlement.

Jamie -- I generally use whatever email I can find, but usually it's the main hotel email. If I find more than one for a property, I'll just include them all and trust that it'll get forwarded to the right person.

Putting this into practice as we speak. I actually find a lot more success if you can find a specific person's email (preferable the senior most GM/manager) rather than the generic email. I usually google "manager" or "GM" and the property name and usually will find the right person in Tripadvisor review responses or press releases from the hotel. I just experiment with [email protected] until I get to the right combo (you can BCC multiple permutations in the same email). Fired off my standard suite request email last night for a Westin next week so we will see what happens. I am using SNAs too so I guess I'm not as unentitled as I could be, but I've had mixed results confirming SNAs in the past. I also asked about airport transfers to experiment with whether that might help my probability of upgrade. Well, the GM offered me free transfers! So, thanks Travis!! We have a 6 mo old so loving your posts (and Lucky's!). Fingers still crossed on the upgrade...

I'm a bit confused on one thing: you mention needing to be able to put the kids in one room of the suite and yourselves in another, and later on you say "that door is key." But you are usually upgraded into a junior suite, right? And what makes a suite "junior" is that it is just one large room with no door separating the sitting area from the sleeping area, right?

Randy -- If it doesn't have at least two rooms and a door between them, then it's just a big room, and not a suite. At least that's how I define it!

I don't know what the accepted definition of junior suite is, but I've always just assumed it's the entry-level suite at the property.

Travis, in my experience with hotels in major chains (Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Hyatt, Westin, Sheraton) plus independent properties, a junior suite never has an internal door separating the areas. That's what makes it a "junior" suite: separate areas (usually one for sitting and one for sleeping) without a physical door separating them.

You were upgraded into a junior suite at the Sheraton Bandera and the Four Points by Sheraton Penang. The pictures you posted don't seem to show an internal door. Did these rooms have an internal door separating the areas? Do you have pictures? If some properties are using a different definition of junior suite, I'd like to know for reference. Thanks.

Randy --

Yes, Bandera and Penang both had doors separating the living room and bedroom.

Travis, we are travelling with our 4 and 7 year olds in a couple of months. was looking at the 2 x double bed family rooms but as Plat Amb would love a suite if they give us one. just want to check how that works with beds for the kids - is there a sofabed or rollaway? thanks

Hi Travis, just came across this thread. With your two kids, was wondering what your hotel strategy is in Europe or Australia where rooms are smaller or maximum occupancies more strictly enforced. In Asia, hotels are more flexible with four people sharing a room. How often do you request (and pay) for a rollaway bed, for example? Thanks

Thank you for your insight on how to get your hotel room upgraded for free! Specifically, you talk about how with the Sheraton Penang hotel, you were able to simply email them and ask for the upgrade, and they accommodated. It seems that if you are honest and upfront with the hotel, they will most likely comply with your request. Do you think that this is true? Thank you for your insight!

@Lauren Woodley, it depends very much on which hotel, and how full they are. In general, some hotels are much more willing to grant upgrade requests than others. Also in general, hotels that are mostly full are less likely to do so, while hotels that are fully booked may need to grant upgrades so they have rooms available, and hotels that are lightly booked may be more willing to grant upgrades.

Room upgrades don't cost the hotel any revenue provided they're not forecast to sell out. This is because the cost to maintain each room in the hotel is the same with the only exceptions being the super exclusive luxury style penthouse suites. The only reason these would cost more to maintain is that they might need more than one housekeeper.
Generally if you know the hotel won't sell out then there's always the possibility of an upgrade.

Hi Travis, my husband and I will be going to Hawaii on our honeymoon in March. Do you have any tips for Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa, Waikiki Beach and an upgrade? I'm an SPG gold member and would like a club level room but would need Plat status for that upgrade. Thoughts?