$20 sandwich trick got us upgraded to the 43rd floor with a view in the Empire Tower at the New York New York on a Monday 3 nite stay. Followed the script exactly.

We checked in at 3pm on a Wednesday afternoon. Approximately 10min wait in the queue. Slid across 2x$50 notes and asked if there were any upgrades available. The clerk took the money and said she would see what she would do. While she appeared to try her best and seemed apologetic she ultimately gave us nothing and kept the tip. $100 down the drain, first gamble of the trip didn’t pay off!

We arrived on Friday around 7pm and got directed to a female clerk. Exchanged greetings and pleasantries, then handed over my ID and bank card with a $50 in between. I asked about any complementary upgrades and she answered back “We don’t do that here”. I said okay and plucked my $50 back.

The cashier asked if I need change for 20$.I said if any upgrade possible ,I would appreciate it. She smiled and gave the upgrade

We arrived around 2pm on Sunday and literally just went to the next open agent. No real line so it went very quickly. My husband handed her the sandwich stack, stated he was here for business but brought his wife along (me) for pleasure and wanted to see if there were any complimentary room upgrades available. She put the $20 on her keyboard and said “Is this for me?” And my husband replied, “Of course.”. She was very very friendly and started typing away. She showed us how he had booked a Park Ave room and she was upgrading us to a Madison Ave Premium View room.

We were thrilled it worked but when we went to the room we were even more excited. The room is very large, it’s a corner room on the 15th floor. The view is beautiful, mountains, strip, and even the roller coaster.

It’s Vegas and we looked at this as our first gamble. It paid off for us, we are going to enjoy the next 5 days even more now!

Went to the front desk, spoke to a friendly woman. She asked for my passport, then my bank card so I just gave her the bank card and said any upgrades will be appreciated. And gave a cheeky smile.

Was 5 of us, 2 rooms, 1 double bed in each with a sofa bed

Upgraded us to a strip view, 2 rooms connected to each other with a strip view. Really happy.

One thing I didn’t expect was the resort tax is per room per day so total was $600 but we signed up to the players points so hopefully by the end we will get them removed.

Very busy Monday night. Upgraded to larger room with view of NHL Stadium & mountains!

Check in was really busy but went up to the available clerk to check in. Sandwiched the 20 between id and credit card and politely asked. The clerk didn’t say anything so just thought he was being subtle with it being busy. Then I was told I was getting a Maddison Avenue room in the Chrysler building part of the hotel. Room did have views of the mountains/ red rock canyon in the distance

We arrived at 7:00pm on a Friday night. Surprisingly, the check in line was super short which is odd for a Friday night. I asked the clerk if there were any complimentary room upgrades, and she said that there wasn’t at that time, but we could check back the next day. We liked our room so we did not check back the next day. Plus, I would have had to tip again since I’m sure I wouldn’t have gotten the same person. I was hopeful that the clerk would take off some of the other charges such as the resort fee, but she did not. She just took my $20 and gave us nothing in return.

I had a basic room at NYNY, merely went to the first clerk available on a Monday afternoon, kindly put $20 between ID and credit card, and politely asked if any complimentary upgrades were available. She smiled, said she would check. First asked, if I was parking a car during my stay. I wasn’t. She then upgraded me to a room that had a nice view of the strip facing MGM, and parts of excalibur. Also a bigger room. Enjoyed it.