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MGM Grand Hotel Room Upgrades

How Do Vegas Insiders Get $1,000+ Room Upgrades for $20?

 
We'll tell you how to master the 'front desk tip' - AKA the '$20 sandwich trick' - to get MGM Grand room upgrades in Vegas for a fraction of the hotel's regular price.

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193 Reports From the MGM Grand Hotel Front Desk

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Recent Room Upgrades: 0% (0/0)

'All Time' Upgrades: 55% (105/193)


shadow
   
  • Room Booked: Grand Tower King
  • Room Upgrade: Grand Tower King
  • Hotel Clerk: male / 25
  • Check-In: 2007-07-22

No Dice For poshgirl at MGM Grand...

 
 

The guy at the desk knew what was up, but only offered the upgrade if we paid more money per night. He said all "complimentary upgrades" were out. He gave us the $20 back, and I thought it was because there was a manager working behind him. Turns out the hotel was holding a McDonald's convention and we saw thousands of them heading to meetings while we were there. I will definitely try again, and hopefully not during a conference week.

 
   
  • Room Booked: Standard
  • Room Upgrade: Standard
  • Hotel Clerk: male / 18
  • Check-In: 2007-07-18

No Dice For ZKM at MGM Grand...

 
 

Clerk said we got better rooms, but they were standard 2-queen rooms.

 
   
  • Room Booked: Deluxe Room
  • Room Upgrade: Deluxe Room
  • Hotel Clerk: male / 25
  • Check-In: 2007-07-18

No Dice For dhuong at MGM Grand...

 
 

Well when I got there it was already late, so i scoped out the attendants and found a gentleman with a bald head name Todd. I remember reading a post earlier about a couple scoring a suite room upgrade for free with this guy so I tried my luck. I sled the 20 between the credit card and ID, he took it and put the 20 on top of the keyboard as well as my ID and credit card. He said there are no more non-smoking Tower rooms available and that he would have to put me in a West Wing Room or a smoking Tower Room. Well, if you stayed at a West Wing room at MGM before, you know its very small. I told him, that the room is kind of small and if there are any other rooms available beside the smoking and the West Wing room. He said he will be right back and went to the back room with my 20 dollars. He came back after 3-4 minutes and said, "Okay, I was able to get you a non-smoking Tower room, beautiful room, king size bed" I said Great, thanks Todd.

Here is the thing, i dunno if he was just saying all of that crap to make it seem like he did something special or what he said about the room really being full was true. I will definitely try it again and this time be more aggressive and ask for a suite.

 
   
  • Room Booked: Tower Standard
  • Room Upgrade: Bungalow Suite
  • Hotel Clerk: male / 36
  • Check-In: 2007-07-16

Jackpot! rolodoc Got A MGM Grand Room Upgrade

 
 

I got to MGM on a Monday afternoon at 4PM. There was a very short line. I deliberately picked the guy standing at the far right counter, furthest away from managers. Had the $20 between CC and DL as suggested. He took the money and placed it on the keyboard. I asked if a complimentary upgrade was available. He went to talk to a manager for 1 minute, and came back saying it was okay. He was very appreciative of the tip, shook my hand 3 times during the encounter thanking me. I think he was probably a new employee. He also gave me a VIP room key, which can be used to skip any line at restaurants in MGM. I wasn't sure what room he gave me until I went up and was quite happy with the $20 investment for 3 nights in a suite. The wife was very impressed!

 
   
  • Room Booked: Standard Deluxe
  • Room Upgrade:
  • Hotel Clerk: female / 25
  • Check-In: 2007-07-09

No Dice For Nick at MGM Grand...

 
 

Checked in late, about 2 AM, and the place was packed. Didnt have a chance to chose the line a man was directing traffic. Since it actually was my birthday, I used that angle with the $20. After asking for the complimentary upgrade, she looked down and cleary saw the money and responded with, "I wish I could, but we are completely booked." I took the money back and then was forced to take a smoking, two queen room when I requested a non-smoking, king room. She seemed sincere about giving the upgrade, and the hotel did seem full. Oh well, didnt loose any money at the desk.

 
   
  • Room Booked: Tower Standard
  • Room Upgrade: Celebrity Spa Suite
  • Hotel Clerk: male / 31
  • Check-In: 2007-07-08

Jackpot! fjiwa Got A MGM Grand Room Upgrade

 
 

We checked in around 12:30pm. I was on my honeymoon. I picked a short line with a female clerk. I gave her my DL and Credit Card with the $20 inbetween but visible. I asked the clerk for any complimentary upgrades. I also told her we were on our honeymoon which was true! She knew exactly what we wanted. She typed away for a few minutes and kept the $20 and my CC on the keyboard. She then went to speak to the manager and was away for about 2 minutes. She came back and offered us an upgrade either to a Bungalow Suite or the Celebrity Spa Suite. We chose the Celebrity Spa Suite. The room wouldn't be ready for 2 hours but she gave us room keys with a reference code so we could bill to our room and also go to the Pool. She told us she would make a note that the upgrade was given because the room wouldn't be ready for 2 hours. I guess they have to justify why an upgrade was given. We headed off to the pool area and our room was ready by 3pm. Our room was wonderful with a peek-a-boo view of the pool.

 
   
  • Room Booked: Standard - $79/night special - 2 Rooms
  • Room Upgrade: 2 x King Bungalow Suites
  • Hotel Clerk: female / 36
  • Check-In: 2007-07-03

Jackpot! MTM Got A MGM Grand Room Upgrade

 
 

I had two rooms reserved 7/3/07 - 7/5/07 at a $79 / night rate. We arrived at the airport and checked in at the airport. I gave the lady checking me in two 20s between my license and CC. She asked me what I was looking for, and told her that I would be grateful for whatever she could do. She then said she had hollywood suites and bungalow suites that she could get us into, and I told her that either one would be great, but we would appreciate whichever of the options would be closer together. She checked us into two king bugalows across the hall from each other, 14th floor and we were off! Thanks.

 
   
  • Room Booked: Standard Room
  • Room Upgrade: Standard Room
  • Hotel Clerk: female / 25
  • Check-In: 2007-07-03

No Dice For LADreamTeam at MGM Grand...

 
 

Handed the 20 between my driver license and CC, the young lady ask if the 20 was for her, and i said yes. She looked and said she could give me an upgrade to the spa suite for 30 more. I said no thanks, and she ask if i wanted the 20 back, i said no.. but i should have said yes.

I did get a room with the view of the strip.

 
   
  • Room Booked: Standard Room
  • Room Upgrade: Standard Room
  • Hotel Clerk: female / 18
  • Check-In: 2007-07-01

No Dice For Sierraw at MGM Grand...

 
 

Asked if it was too early to get an upgrade on the room (by checking their reservation system the day before I thought they didn't have any suites available since they were "sold out" for the night before our arrival. She said it wasn't too early and whipped out the book showing us the options - they were all either $20 or $25 more per night. She clearly saw the $20 - I originally had it between the CC and licence but she took them one at a time so I ended up holding the 20 and one of the cards at all times. So it was in plain sight several times as we exchanged cards, etc. and there were no managers around. .(I did try to keep it somewhat hidden so that she wouldn't feel like she would get in trouble if they saw me with it.) We said we were going to stick with our original room and she did some typing. Then she said something that I didn't understand (caught the beginning which was, "We don't have any standard rooms available right now..." Then I didn't hear the rest) and my husband said, "That's really great - thank you very much!" Because they didn't have any standard rooms available and due to my husband's reaction, I assumed she'd said she could upgrade us since there were suites available right away. I signed paperwork and gave her the 20 and she said, "Oh, thank you - I'm sorry I couldn't help you guys out." (She didn't seem to really want to take it.) That's when I knew that I'd clearly misunderstood! So I tipped her and we got nothing! (By the way, what she said was that she'd get us a room with a nice view. Which it was for the most part. I'm sure there are rooms with much better views but this was nice.) I'd definitely try this again but I would search for a more promising-looking clerk. (We didn't actually have much of a choice, though - there was a manager standing there guiding you to the next clerk so you got whomever they waved you to.)

 
   
  • Room Booked: Standard Room
  • Room Upgrade: Standard Room
  • Hotel Clerk: female / 25
  • Check-In: 2007-07-01

No Dice For ncooper12 at MGM Grand...

 
 

Handed the young lady my license and credit card with a $20 bill between them. I asked for a complimentary upgrade. She viewed the $20 several times and typed away. After giving me the room keys she said "This isn't necessary. This is a very nice room." She handed me back the $20.

The room itself was far from "nice". It was the smallest and most plain room I've had in Vegas over the past 7 years.

 
   
  • Room Booked: standard queen
  • Room Upgrade: bungalow suite
  • Hotel Clerk: male / 25
  • Check-In: 2007-07-01

Jackpot! gongju Got A MGM Grand Room Upgrade

 
 

got a killer online special for $59.99/night from july 1st thru the 5th on a standard room. went to the line the manager told us to go to and some irrate woman cut me off and said she had been waiting in line longer, so we moved over to the other line and scowled at her. the clerk behind the counter noticed and appologized for her behavior (which was unneccessary because she was a guest and should have known better). i handed him my id, card and a $20 and asked if there were any upgrades available. he said "wow, you know how to get what you want around here!" and started typing away. he said that it would be hard with our special rate but said he would try to find us something with a better view. he gave us our key and we went to what would be a standard room and then we walked into a huge bungalow suite!!! we won a ton of money and got comped all our meals and half of our stay. for four nights in an upgraded suite, starbucks every morning, poolside drinks every day, and one breakfast buffet, we paid a whopping $108!!! great deal if you ask me:)

 
   
  • Room Booked: Player's Club Special (70 a night)
  • Room Upgrade: Dumpster-view "Grand Tower" Room
  • Hotel Clerk: female / 25
  • Check-In: 2007-06-25

No Dice For Chris at MGM Grand...

 
 

Although I checked in after midnight, I was directed to a Korean looking women in her late-20 early 30s. I folded a 20 in between my CC and DL, which she had noticed. She said that she couldn't do anything even before looking at the PC. We ended up in a "Grand Tower" room on the 3rd floor overlooking the beautiful rear of the Hollywood Theatre with some Copperfield props in the trash. We ended up talking to a manager/clerk, we then moved us into a strip-view on the 26th floor for our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th nights.

 
   
  • Room Booked: Celebrity Spa Suite
  • Room Upgrade: Celebrity Spa Suite
  • Hotel Clerk: female / 25
  • Check-In: 2007-06-20

No Dice For Brad at MGM Grand...

 
 

I checked in at 9pm on a Wed night at the hotel because the airport check-in was closed. I asked if there were any complimentary upgrades as I handed the lady my ID, $20, and CC, and she immediately began checking before she took any of it in her hand. She said there were no bigger suites available than what I had reserved already. I pocketed my 20 and she continued with check-in very politely.

 
   
  • Room Booked: West Wing
  • Room Upgrade: Bungalow Suite
  • Hotel Clerk: male / 18
  • Check-In: 2007-06-19

Jackpot! Drew Got A MGM Grand Room Upgrade

 
 

Checked in at the airport and slipped the 20 b/w the ID and CC. He placed it next to his computer as I asked if there were any upgrades available (as it was my wifes first trip to Vegas). He spent some time looking and said they were quite full. After a minute or two he offered me the bungalow suite and showed me the picture of the suite. It didn't seem very impressive so I politely declined and offered to take my original reservation. He then offered two buffet comps (worth 30 bucks a piece) and placed them on my room bill. He was very nice and both my wife and I were glad we kept our west wing room, they are pretty cool!

 
   
  • Room Booked: Standard
  • Room Upgrade: N/a
  • Hotel Clerk: female / 25
  • Check-In: 2007-06-18

No Dice For Frank at MGM Grand...

 
 

First, the airport check in location for MGM was closed at 8pm on a Saturday night (what's up with that?). I went up to the front desk with the $20 between the DL & CC and asked about complimentary upgrades. She knew immediately what I wanted, but explained that the Police were in concert that night at the hotel and all suites were taken ("We are completely booked"). She went away for a long time and when she came back I asked for passes to Studio 54 instead (turns out they weren't actually necessary). She said no, the tickets were handled by ? department and were for "special guests" only. She was nice and seemed to try to do something for us, eventually giving us a room higher up with a partial strip view. We were there for probably 30 minutes, so my wife suggested I give her a tip. I gave her the $20, which she had placed on the counter, and as we walked away my wife said she meant to tip like $5 not the $20. The room wasn't worth the $20. Argh.

 
   
  • Room Booked: Grand Tower
  • Room Upgrade: Bungalow Suite
  • Hotel Clerk: male / 25
  • Check-In: 2007-06-08

Jackpot! itsed Got A MGM Grand Room Upgrade

 
 

I drove up to Vegas and opted to go to the airport since I heard there was a better success rate. When I arrive a nice man in his late 20's from mexico greeted me and asked for the standard information. I folded the $20 between my credit card and drivers license and handed him and I asked the "Are there any free upgrades available?". He quickly responded "Of course", and put the cards with cash on the top of his keyboard as he typed away. He found something and quickly pocketed the money. Sadly the only thing they had was a smoking room but I figured it shouldnt smell that bad and I was right. I was very happy for the 3 nights I was there. The room wasnt too far from the elevator which was a lifesaver.

Sadly the elevators at the MGM-grand/"target="_blank">MGM Grand were going bonkers that weekend.

 
   
  • Room Booked: Grand Tower
  • Room Upgrade: Celebrity Spa Suite
  • Hotel Clerk: female / 18
  • Check-In: 2007-06-08

Jackpot! 3v1l Got A MGM Grand Room Upgrade

 
 

Wife couldn't believe it worked! Fantastic trip, comped meals + comped KA tickets. It's very easy to get comps in vegas - you just have to ask. They won't come to you unless you're a whale but if you're small time (1k - 3K in a weekend) just call and ask - you'll be surprised!

 
   
  • Room Booked: $109 Grand Tower
  • Room Upgrade: Hollywood Suite
  • Hotel Clerk: male / 31
  • Check-In: 2007-06-08

Jackpot! redrover Got A MGM Grand Room Upgrade

 
 

I checked in early Saturday morning at 1:30 AM - there were 1-2 people ahead of me and I looked over the check-in clerks and this man looked the friendliest. He's young but shaves his head so look for a bald man. I had someone else go in front of me and I waited for him - I think his name is Todd, but I'm not positive. When I gave him my passport, cc and the $20 tucked inbetween he said "I see you've been here before". He was very nice and excused himself to go in the back room and came out about 3 minutes later. He took out the book and showed me the room I was supposed to be staying in and kept flipping through and commented on each page saying - "not this one" - finally he said "you're going to be staying in the Hollywood Suite" and was turned to that page in the book

Hollywood Suite

He was incredible - he said he didn't have anything on a higher floor. A friend of mine had checked in about 15 minutes before and I asked him if he could possibly upgrade them - he said he couldn't since they had already checked in but gave me some advice if they wanted to change their room in the morning. I knew we were only staying 2 nights so they wouldn't move their room.

The room was FABULOUS - huge bedroom, bathroom and living room.

When I checked out I had a little problem and had to do it with a clerk and she said "Wow - you stayed in a Hollywood Suite and you had a king size room for $109" You could tell she knew something happened and she said something like "oh they didn't have any rooms for you" and I just said yes, they seemed to be short.

This was a huge deal since I was luck enough to get the $109 rate that weekend - hotels like Circus Circus and the Luxor were asking $170-220 per night for that Fri/Sat night...so the rate I had was a huge savings - the upgrade just added to it 100X!

 
   
  • Room Booked: Standard
  • Room Upgrade: MGM Signature Suite
  • Hotel Clerk: female / 25
  • Check-In: 2007-05-27

Jackpot! Danny Got A MGM Grand Room Upgrade

 
 

Went to check-in with the $20 around 5pm. Asked for upgrades she said hotel was completely booked and gave me the 20 back. I said okay and asked for an extra roll-away and she said she would be back. When she returned, she said I have been upgraded to MGM-grand-the-signature/"target="_blank">The Signature tower suite. Gave her back the 20.

 
   
  • Room Booked: Standard
  • Room Upgrade: Standard 16th Floor
  • Hotel Clerk: female / 36
  • Check-In: 2007-05-23

No Dice For JB at MGM Grand...

 
 

Asked for a complentary upgrade with the method described here. I knew it was going to be a crazy weekend with Memorial Day weekend and UFC 71 at the MGM. She said right away that she would not be able help us as all the suites were filled and handed back the 50.

We tipped her 10 after checking us into our room. Very friendly and knowledgable service.

 




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