Getting an upgrade...what's the etiquette?

[reiella]

Originally Posted by fla4fun

I don't see anything wrong with asking how much it would cost to upgrade from your current room category to a higher one. I do think it's a bit rude to expect to get the upgrade for free. If they give it to you free, great, but paid upgrades are often cheaper than it would have been to book the higher category in the first place, so it can still be a winning situation.

While this holds true for many hotels, I feel it's important to clarify for Disney Resorts [at WDW anyway] upgrades at the desk are going to be at rack-rate. However, that is a scenario that is pretty unique to Disney so it works as a polite way to probe without coming off as "what can you give me for free?".

As you said, a lot of the time at Disney it's overbooking. Another aspect that's harder to pin down is when the cost of operating the rooms is actually similar or the same. Waterview doesn't cost Disney any more to operate than standard view, you're really just paying a premium for demand. So it can build good customer relations with an upgrade at negligible cost to the resort. Or there are instances like CL where the other services tied to the room have a cost rate that's going to be felt if the room is attended or not [the CL cast member is going to get paid even if they're doing the maytag repairman schtick all day].