Checked in at airport, there were no other customers at the desk. It was about 7:30 PM and I chatted up the lady at the counter about how dead it was. She appeared to be in her mid 20’s and she said that the crowd had just left, and that they had just been swamped a few minutes earlier.
I commented that I must have come at just the right time and handed her my ID and credit card with a $50 “sandwiched” in between.
I went for the $50, because honestly I don’t think $20 will get you where it used to. Plus the 50% success rate that MGM has on this site made me go for the bigger bucks in hopes of a return. In addition, we were staying for six nights.
I gave the old: “Do you have any complimentary upgrades available?” as I handed her the sandwich.
She smiled noticeably and raised her eyebrows a bit as she deftly placed the $50 next to the keyboard, also setting my ID and credit card down and began typing away.
After a couple of minutes, she apologized for not having any suites available to upgrade me to, and then walked over to who I assumed was her supervisor and wrote a few things on a pad of paper, because her supervisor was on the phone.
Her supervisor looked it over and nodded.
She returned to the computer and told me that she could upgrade my room to a strip view, which was $25 more according to her.
She then pulled out two cards (I was visiting with a guest), and told me that we could have a free buffet (breakfast, brunch or lunch only) at any of the M-Life casinos for every day that we were there.
This buffet pass included the MGM, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excaliber, Mirage, Aria, Monte Carlo & Circus Circus.
She then also handed me two complimentary admission cards to their two night clubs, Tabu and Studio 54. These were good only Mon-Fri.
She also said something about discounts to all shows at the MGM, but I didn’t plan on attending any and honestly don’t know if there is already a discount for anyone staying at the hotel anyway.
She was handing me all my things and asked if there was anything else that she could do for me today.
I decided to push for a refrigerator for the room, saying something on the order of: “Is there any way I could get a refrigerator for the room?”
She nodded immediately and told me that there would be one waiting for me in the room, comped for “medical reasons”.
I thanked her and left.
All in all, it was the best $50 I spent in Vegas and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Although I didn’t get a significant room upgrade (are you really there to spend time in your hotel room anyway?), the buffet comps made it a sound investment.
We ate at a different buffet everyday for nothing but the cost of a tip. We would have spent an estimated $200-$300 on those meals.
Also, the refrigerator was a nice option. This is normally a $35 a night charge at MGM. So that boiled down to $210 freebie. We kept our bottled water and booze nice and cold at no charge.
I did not use the club passes, as that’s really not my scene anymore. But all in all, I estimate that I spent $50 for services that I took advantage of that totaled $410-$510.
For those that cringe at the idea of handing over a $50 instead of a $20, I can say I don’t think I would’ve gotten what I did with a $20.
It was a great start in my first night in Vegas, winning on my $50 check-in bet! 🙂

Just came back from my weekend stay at MGM Grand. Came to the check-in desk and looked at the workers helping guests and found a young lady in her mid 20’s. Started conversation off asking her how she was doing, has it been a busy weekend for them, blah blah. I was going to do the sandwich but there were so many other staff around that i thought it would be inappropriate and ruin any chance of an upgrade. instead i kindly asked if there were any comp upgrades available and she quickly began looking. found a room and spoke to her manager for a second and they were able to give me a Hollywood suite (the suite above the Celebrity suite). I gladly took it and thanked her. I dont remember her name but she was very sweet and helpful.

IMO its better to start a conversation that will make the worker comfortable with helping you if you ask. the $20 sandwich can give the wrong idea (bribe?) and blow any chance of an upgrade.

Just came back from my weekend stay at MGM Grand. Came to the check-in desk and looked at the workers helping guests and found a young lady in her mid 20’s. Started conversation off asking her how she was doing, has it been a busy weekend for them, blah blah. I was going to do the sandwich but there were so many other staff around that i thought it would be inappropriate and ruin any chance of an upgrade. instead i kindly asked if there were any comp upgrades available and she quickly began looking. found a room and spoke to her manager for a second and they were able to give me a Hollywood suite (the suite above the Celebrity suite). I gladly took it and thanked her. I dont remember her name but she was very sweet and helpful.

Checked in at the airport desk. There were two males on duty. Issued the sandwhich and asked for comp upgrade. Clerk checked, while leaving $20 on desk. Two upgrades were offered, one of which was West Wing King – I took that one as it was more modern according to the clerk.
Clerk took the time to thank me for the tip, which is most important in my opinion.

Received a couple of comped rooms from MGM Grand. They told me via email that they were a Grand Tower Room. Arrived about 4:30 on a Sunday and got put in a line by a MGM employee. Got moved to 2 other lines and finally got to a human. I pretty much knew I was doomed as it appeared the manager was standing right behind her. I tried anyways and was told they had no “complementary” upgrades, but could upgrade me for a fee. I told her no thank you. He did not take my $20, and the room they provided was a nice room. In my opinion, it is always worth a shot.

we heard about the sandwich and thought we would try it. we booked a one bedroom suite through the mgm website. when we checked in a slid the guy at the counter the 20 bucks. he went to the back for a little while and came back giving us a terrace suite with balcony, a bottle of wine and some dinner comps. we paid 700 bucks for a 5600 dollar room. well worth 20. btw we did it again this past march and booked a regular room and got upgraded to a spa suite.

Checked into the airport with a guy named Phil. He was polite and very nice even after handing him the ID/cash/Credit Card sandwich. I asked if there were any free upgrades and he said he would give it a look. After about a minute he handed back the cards AND cash then told me he had given us a room on the 22 floor with a great view of the strip. Even though we didn’t get a suite upgrade we received a very nice view and I got to keep the twenty bucks. Not bad if you ask me!!

Airport checkin….credit card sandwich $20…upgraded us (4 – 34year olds) to Marquee Suite in Vegas for Bachelor Party. Also gave us $300 credit for food at the resort (which lasted one night).

Me and my friend approached a new counter which had only opened for a few moments. 2 Couples infront of me got checked in then I approached the desk. The lady seemed nice, I’d say around late 20’s, Black, 5″5ft, Curly shoulder length hair. I said we are here to check in and gave both my passport, credit card, booking information and $40.00 in my passport sticking out. She bagan typing away and looked and smiled at me, I thought yes I’m in! I asked if there was a chance of a complimentary upgrade to which she said yes there would be, she typed away and said there is a suite for only $27.00 extra per night, I again said again any complimentary upgrades to which she said no she could not do that and handed by my $40.00.

It worked super! We arrived at the airport at 5 pm and decided to use the check-in there – to avoid all the lines at the hotel since it was Halloween coming up. It was just us and 2 other guests. We were 4 guys (2 in one room and 2 single rooms). One women was sitting a little bit off, working w/ something else but took care of us very nicely. I handed her the “package” w/ passport and creditcard.
She just smiled and said that she’d look. I asked for “any complimentary upgrade or if you have a nice room in our category w/ nice view or something…”
Then she asked if we all wanted the same upgrades – my frindes tipped her with a 20 but she said it wasn’t necesarry(but still kept the money). We were treated great and got super rooms + free transfer($8)! I think checkin’ in at the airport was a key here.