Bogleheads

[grok87]

Has anyone else heard of this? (or done it). Is it a joke or for real?
http://www.thetwentydollartrick.com/
cheers,
_________________
grok, CFA

[simplesimon]

I've done it and it works.

Did you have questions about it?

[kramer]

Just what we need. This exacerbates both the sense of entitlement to tips that has become an epidemic and manages to encourage corruption in the process.

Kramer

[grok87]

[simplesimon]

[simplesimon]

[mudfud]

[simplesimon]

If you get a nicer room that would've cost an extra $50/night for just $20 for the entire stay, that's value!

[TJAJ9]

I used the $20 trick in Atlantic City last year when I checked into my hotel. I was taking my girl on a 3 day trip for her birthday. Some guy I know told me about it, so I decided to give it a try. I just gave the guy a twenty at check-in when he asked for my credit card and ID. I didn't even say anything. He then asked me what kind of room I wanted and offered me an ocean-view suite.

It definitely worked. He looked really happy and surprised when he saw the money, but didn't actually mention anything about it. His actions took care of it, though.

I think 2 of my nights were already comped for free and the one night I did pay for was really cheap. I got a nice vacation out of it and probably paid less than $100 for 3 nights in the hotel.

[rockbottom]

I never give tips to the downstairs staff on check-in, and I never give $20 tips at all in hotels! But I reserve early, check in early, and am unfailingly polite and patient — and am nearly always able to get more expensive rooms than I am paying for.

[nisiprius]

I wonder what the success rate is if you just ask, without offering the $20.

They need to fill the rooms. Certainly it doesn't cost them any more to clean a room with a view on the 24th floor than it does to clean a room next to the elevator on the 3rd floor. Of course they want a premium for the nicer room if they can get it, but once it's down to the moment they might as well put everyone in the nicest rooms that are actually available (holding a few back for potentially important latecomers, I suppose). Just as long as the number of people who ask is small compared to the number of unused nice rooms.

I've been successful simply asking for another room when I didn't like the one I was shown.

Just wondering.
_________________
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.

[fishndoc]

Although I've never been to Vegas, from stories I've been told, a $20 tip would be laughed at (at least in the old pre-Recession days).

One of my buddies tells the story of going to a show there, and seeing other people slip the usher a tip to get moved up front into empty seats. My friend folded two ones, and then wraped a $20 around it - said he gave it to the usher who moved them to the front row. Shortly after sitting down, the usher returned, and escorted my friend back to his original seat, and returned his obviously inadequate tip!
_________________
" Successful investing involves doing just a few things right, and avoiding serious mistakes."

J. Bogle

[simplesimon]

[Petrocelli]

I assume tipping works in Las Vegas, simply because it does in most places.

One Valentines day 20 years ago, I took my wife out for dinner to a popular restaraunt. I put my name on a list. After about an hour, my name hadn't moved. I saw a table for 2 open, and asked the host, "If I give you $20, can I have that table?"

His response? "But sir, that is your table."

$20 later, I was sitting down.
_________________
Petrocelli (not the real Rico, but just a fan)

[Gekko]

Tips blaze trails most anywhere in Vegas. Valet's "full"? Show's "sold out"? Good tables "taken"? Let Andrew Jackson take a shot.

[Tramper Al]

[Gekko]

Vegas is Vegas. it's not Vanguard and it's not the Vatican. it is what it is.

great book -

"At its heart, it's all about greed. We build the casinos because we want to take your money. You come here because you want to take our money. The rest is just window dressing - how we lure you in, how you justify it to yourself when you get back home." - Damon Zimonowski

"That's the nature of the motherf*****. It's no different than any other business. You don't open a movie theater and let people in for free. You charge 'em for the entertainment. That's what Vegas does. The house's edge is the price of the movie ticket." - Damon Zimonowski

"Over time, nobody beats the house - that's the cardinal rule of Vegas. You f*** with the cardinal rule, you f*** with Vegas. And sooner or later, Vegas finds a way to f*** you back." - Damon Zimonowski

"All the stripper girls are so friendly and smiling and happy to see you. They dance and dazzle and tell jokes while they take your money. Inside, they hate your guts. Each and every one of them. They think you're a sucker and a mark. They lure you in and rob you blind. And they laugh at you when you leave, every one of them. They laugh and try to figure out ways to get you to come back." - April the Stripper

Ben Mezrich - Bringing Down the House

http://www.amazon.com/Bringing....amp;sr=8-3

[JordanIB]

[ElJay]

Boy, I'd really like to know if this works anywhere on car rentals. I don't rent cars often (~1 per year) but when I do I seem quite unlucky. In my most recent experience, despite being very courteous after an outrageously long wait to get a vehicle, my "mid-size sedan" reservation turned into a garbage Kia minivan. I was too tired and hungry to complain about it (12 hours on a bag of tasty JetBlue-issued animal crackers). It was also certainly a learning experience to ask for the type of car I'm assigned before I leave the counter.

[wshang]

[JordanIB]

[michaelc55]

Yes, tips do go very far out in LV. I used to visit the LVCC for work and one time even tipped a chef to make me a special pizza. Amazing what people will do for money out there.

As for the $20 hotel tip trick, I tried it at Hard Rock and was shot down almost immediately. I think it really depends on who you encounter and whether they are willing to break the rules for twenty bucks.

[NewtoBogle]

check out fatwallet travel forum, there's a very long thread there on vegas $20 trick, where it has worked for people, etc

[edge]

[newport1]

I used a variation of the trick (aka the $100 trick) at an expensive resort in Maui and it worked.

[newport1]

I should also add that this is an example of the agency risk that exists in our portfolios (ie, the managers and employees are supposed to be working to maximize shareholder value, not their bank account values).

[MTTrek]

Confirmed to work. Bellagio a year ago. A helluva value! $20 in Vegas? Gimme a break, it used to pay for a buffet meal for 4 not too long ago, but nowadays it's a bit more than you have to fork out for a rollercoaster ride

[mudfud]

[Harold]

[mudfud]

[grok87]

[jhh9327]

[grok87]