Fairly busy, maybe 10 people working the desk. Clerk was Asian. Sandwiched the bills between the cards. The guy was obviously used to it. Said, “We do have an upgrade available…” and gave it to us. Explained what we’d be getting so, presumably, we could decline if it wasn’t good enough. I think the quality of the upgrade is based on availability more than tip size.

We got in late and there were only 4 people behind counter, one may have been a manager. We lucked out and went to the girl described above. I placed the 20 between CC and DL and as I gave to her asked if there were any upgrades available. The 20 disappeared so quickly, I have no idea what she did with it. She clicked for a second or two and said that there were none available that night but that they would call me by noon the next day and put us in a different room. Sure enough when I woke up our light was blinking and I called and they said they had our room change ready for us. (8am!). She changed our keys over the phone and we took our bags to the private elevators up to the 25th floor. Room difference was bathroom: Marble, seperate shower, two sinks. We had a view of the pool.

We checked in around 11:30 pm. We did the trick, and told “Sorry” and that there was nothing they could do. We had our 1 year old son with us (who is a chick magnet) and even mentioned that we were getting married (we were). We got nothing complimentary, and we were at the end of the hall on the fifth floor, so no view at all. The A/C was broken in the room, and even when we called about that, it was fixed, but still no upgrade. We were pretty disappointed (seems all our guests got better rooms than us).

We were there early 1pm. Every single check-in person was an attractive female and age 20-30. I picked one and broke the ice asking how she was doing yadda yadda. She was very nice… so i thought i was in. I asked her if there were any upgrades available and i would really appreciate it if there was anything she could do since it was my anniversary. I had the 50 between my credit card and DL. She totally saw it before i gave it to her cause i saw her looking at it as she was typing… She said just a minute and called someone twice and went in the back. She said they were sold out of suites (which i kinda believed). She gave me the money back and gave me a bunch of line passes to every place there which was nice, but i never used em. I will try it again though 4sho.

Have stayed at the Mirage often, and usually do this “trick”- stumbled on this website and more power to you. I believe the clerk looked for “something good” but put me in a very standard room with no view on the 23rd floor (not private.) This seems like a clear failure to me.

My girlfriend and I booked thru Travelocity for 6 nights 7 days for a standard room. Since I was staying for so many nights I decided to use a $100 bill. Upon check in and having the bill inbetween the card and ID I asked if there were any upgrades to a suite with a pool view on the private floor. When she saw the 100 her eyes lit up and she went to work on the computer. Sadly she said nothing was available but would give us a volcano view room and handed back the 100 and said the room would not be ready for about 2 hours. It was 9 in the morning. I gave her a 20 for the volcano view room and we went to walk around till room was ready. When we returned she saw us and waved us to her line. She then smiled and went to work on the computer. She said she got us what we wanted after all. So I gave her the other $80 at that point. We were on the 24th private floor with a hot tub suite with a view of the pool and the strip. We were extremely please with everything at the Mirage. Highly highly recommended.

Great website! I was nervous for my first run at the $20 trick. Only females working check-in so that added to the tention. I put the $20 between CC and ID. Told the young lady that my wife and I were celebrating our 5 year anniversary and then asked for any complementary upgrades. She said sure and then saw the $20. She said you don’t need to give me this, its your anniversary! Got upgraded to 24th (private) floor with volcano view and jacuzzi. I will try this everytime from now on.

I had purchased a package from Vegas so the room was already prepaid and the clerk just asked for my ID. I slipped the 20 under the ID so that she could feel it when she took my ID. I asked if I could get an upgrade to a suite. She replied that the hotel was totally booked up and the best she could do was to put me on a higher floor with a strip view. The view was great by the way. She said there was availability on Sunday and that I could call the front desk to get an upgrade to a suite. I went ahead and called on Sunday only to have to pay for an upgrade to a suite if I wanted it. I of course turned it down.

I read this web site right before I went on my trip. When I was standing in line to check in, I overheard a desk clerk tell someone that the hotel was full, so I was afraid the trick wasn’t going to work. But, when it was my turn, I went ahead and folded up a $20 and handed it to the clerk under my credit card and ID. As I handed it to her, I asked if there were any upgrades available. She said she would check, and discretely took the $20 and put it in the desk somewhere. Then she called someone on the phone, asked for a room, and then said that she could give us a volcano view with a “delux” room that had a larger bathroom. The room was nice, two sinks and a whirlpool tub, and a great view of the strip and the volcano. The 25th floor was also nice because there is a private elevator for just the 25th and 24th floors, so the elevator trips were always quick.

I think this worked out great, and plan on trying again in the future.

Already is an upgrade when I reserved the room. Slip a $20 bill and ask is there any comp. upgrade. She said the hotel is full for the Christams weekend. But she comp. me for the buffet for my family and give me a line pass if me and my friends decide to dine at the Mirage buffet again. Boy, was that pass useful. Our group total is 16 people. We try to have buffet at Wynn on the 24th. We start line up at 5 and the wait time is mininium 4 hours. All the kids in my group can’t wait that long. Then we decide to use my line pass to dine at Mirage. We go right in and no need to line up. Regular line is like 3-4 hours wait. (Heard a wife got mad at her husband because of the wait). The check in clerk also give us a champagne and give me the $20 back.