A secret shopper has shared three tricks he used for bagging free upgrades at a hotel.
Dan Shapiro was a secret shopper who stayed at luxury hotels and reviewed them without staff knowing what he was doing.
He picked up some tips and tricks along the way and has shared them to help other hotel guests nab an upgrade, without having to fork out for it.
One of his tips was for guests to pretend to be a secret shopper themselves to make staff more likely to upgrade them so they’d get a good review.
He told Inside Hook: “Look at somebody’s name tag conspicuously – like if you want to make yourself look like a secret shopper.
“Conspicuously look at their name tag and then write something down. You might get an upgrade out of that.”
Another piece of advice was about booking your stay. He said it’s always best to book through the hotel to show that you’re loyal.
He said: “Always book directly with the hotel. You’ll get a better experience if you book with the hotel than if you book with Expedia or another third-party site because they’ll know if you’re a valued customer.
“And if you book directly with them they can see how valued of a customer you are – whether you’re in the silver tier, the gold tier, how many times you’ve stayed with them before etc.
His final tip was to simply be normal and polite. He said: “Just be human and speak genuinely. You can always ask for a room upgrade.
“So if you’re just kind of cool about it, they’ll probably help you out.”
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission.
