Free upgrades are awesome! They can be a big part of what makes a visit to Las Vegas more memorable than others. If you’re reading this blog there’s a good chance that you’re curious about getting a complimentary hotel room upgrade by trying the $20 Trick. Maybe you just want to share your experience trying the $20 Trick. If you haven’t visited the $20 Trick FAQ section of this site, here’s a quick overview:
You’ve already booked your room at a Las Vegas hotel but decide that you’d like a nicer room if possible and you don’t want to pay rack rate. The $20 Trick is a great workaround. All you have to do is slip a $20 bill between your ID and credit card and ask the desk agent if they have any complimentary upgrades available. That’s it.
The $20 Trick sometimes results in a better view and sometimes it will reward you with a larger hotel room. Unfortunately, the $20 Trick isn’t as reliable as paying full price for the room but the trick works pretty often. You can see the results at various Las Vegas hotels on this website.
In the past couple of years, Caesars Entertainment has released a potential $20 Trick killer. This option is so well received that it’s expanding throughout their Las Vegas hotels. When The Quad reopened as The Linq Hotel it had a handful of self check-in kiosks in addition to the regular check-in lines. The technology allows customers to skip long check-in lines and was embraced by enough customers to quickly expand to other Caesars Entertainment casinos in Las Vegas.
Earlier this year Caesars Palace and the Flamingo added the self check-in kiosks. Caesars Entertainment has been working to install these kiosks at Bally’s, Harrah’s, Paris, Planet Hollywood and Rio. During their most recent quarterly earnings call, Caesars Entertainment representatives said that Paris Las Vegas would be the next hotel to install the self check-in kiosks.
The kiosks aren’t the only way to check into a Caesars Entertainment hotel in Las Vegas without waiting in line. Self check-in is also available on your mobile device. Before you even reach your hotel to check you may receive an email to check-in via a mobile. If you like this option but don’t want to depend on an email you can search “Caesars self check in” like I did. Here’s the link for mobile check-in website.
Kiosks and mobile self check-in are great options if you don’t want to wait in line when you get to your hotel. Unfortunately, the $20 Trick won’t work with a mobile device or kiosk. If you want an upgrade you’ll probably be prompted by the kiosk or website to pay for it.
The $20 Trick isn’t going away tomorrow.
First of all, there are still plenty of hotels that don’t offer the self or mobile check-in options. That should be coming but it’s not ubiquitous yet. If you want to try the $20 Trick, you can still wait in line and give it a shot. The good news is that the trick for complimentary hotel room upgrades in Las Vegas still works! Check the right side of the main page or the Greatest Upgrades to see the most recent $20 Trick results.
