Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- The bigger travel networks can give upgrades to their clients rather easily. In order to become affiliated with the big networks, vacation properties need to have these amenities ready to go.
Christopherson Business Travel Marketing Manager Laney Williams said, "We can get complimentary things for our travelers like room upgrades, free meals, transfers to and from the airport or sometimes a spa treatment."
Williams says if you don't book through a large network, getting perks could be tricky. She says many hotel operators are put off when you ask for free things, especially if you paid as little as possible for the room.
"If they can see that you got a screaming deal on hotels.com, you don't have a membership number, they don't know you from anyone, it's really unlikely that they're going to say, ‘Oh, yes, we'd love to upgrade you,'" she said.
But other travel agents say the reason hotel workers don't like giving free upgrades is because customers ask for these perks the wrong way. Velocity Tours and Travel Operations Manager David Williams says many travelers ask for free stuff after they've had a long day on the road and they're in a cranky mood.
"Happy people have good things happen to them. People who just get up and yell and are mad, it's just not going to happen," he said.
Williams says it will help if you compliment the hotel staff before you ask for upgrades. Mention how you've been looking forward to staying there. Also, you should tell your travel agent if you're celebrating a special occasion, like a honeymoon, a birthday or an anniversary.
"A lot of times, those hotels will try to upgrade or they'll give you some perks. They'll put in the anniversary package. But a lot of times, you want to have that set through your travel agent so at the time of booking they can add that," Williams said.
But don't lie. Williams says travelers lie to hotel operators all the time, trying to score some free perks and it doesn't work.
There are other ways you can upgrade your travel experience, and Williams says they're frequently overlooked.
- Use the right credit card.
There are many different cards out there that let users build travel points, but a surprising number of people fail to take advantage of the points and the perks they earn. For example, Williams says you can get into many airport lounges just by having an American Express Platinum Card. - Find redeemable travel promotions by Googling the term "travel promotion codes."
Williams says you can redeem them by logging onto the official website of the airline or hotel running the promotion.
But there are some things you need to look out for. Williams says taxes can be very high on some of these promotions, and you need to check if the deal has a specific origin city. For instance, there may be a deal that has a great fare to Hawaii, but only if you take off from Los Angeles. E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
