AKL Concierge Upgrade At Check In

[allie5]

We are booked to stay at AKL in October. We have a standard room booked through a UK Tour Operator (Virgin) as part of a package with flights and car. I cannot upgrade to concierge through them and CRO are not able to touch the reservation, as it isnt in my name, but the tour ops at present (usual practise).

Anyway, I am keen to upgrade to concierge when we arrive (assuming availability) and wondered what sort of price I could be looking at.

Has anyone done this, and what sort of price did you get? My top budget for the upgrade would be $1000 for the 14 nights...is that realistic, seeing as we are only booked into a standard room??? (Though apparantly it is VERY common for Virgin customers to be upgraded FOC to a Savannah or Pool view). Should I see what "view" I am offered before I ask to upgrade? Obviously an upgrade from a Savannah view would be cheaper than from a standard!!

Any tips appreciated!!

Allie

PS..I have booked my final week "independantly and my room at the Poly has worked out much cheaper than the one booked through the tour op! Have learnt my lesson for the next trip!

 

[Sammie]

We are booked to stay at AKL in October. We have a standard room booked through a UK Tour Operator (Virgin) as part of a package with flights and car. I cannot upgrade to concierge through them and CRO are not able to touch the reservation, as it isnt in my name, but the tour ops at present (usual practise).

Anyway, I am keen to upgrade to concierge when we arrive (assuming availability) and wondered what sort of price I could be looking at.

Has anyone done this, and what sort of price did you get? My top budget for the upgrade would be $1000 for the 14 nights...is that realistic, seeing as we are only booked into a standard room??? (Though apparantly it is VERY common for Virgin customers to be upgraded FOC to a Savannah or Pool view). Should I see what "view" I am offered before I ask to upgrade? Obviously an upgrade from a Savannah view would be cheaper than from a standard!!

Any tips appreciated!!

Allie

PS..I have booked my final week "independantly and my room at the Poly has worked out much cheaper than the one booked through the tour op! Have learnt my lesson for the next trip!

More than likely if there are any openings in concierge when you arrive you will be asked to pay the difference between the rate you booked, standard view, and the price for concierge.

I do not think if they gave you a complimentary upgrade you could expect them to let you pay the difference between the cost of the comped room and concierge since you are not actually paying for the more expensive room.

Since October is Regular Season for rates, if you paid full rack rate for the Standard room the difference would be about $250 per day. Not sure what rate you paid for your standard room, if you paid less than $239 then it could be even more. I don't think you will be able to do it for $1000 for 14 days as that would only be $71 per day.

 

[Fonzy13]

More than likely if there are any openings in concierge when you arrive you will be asked to pay the difference between the rate you booked, standard view, and the price for concierge.

I do not think if they gave you a complimentary upgrade you could expect them to let you pay the difference between the cost of the comped room and concierge since you are not actually paying for the more expensive room.

Since October is Regular Season for rates, if you paid full rack rate for the Standard room the difference would be about $250 per day. Not sure what rate you paid for your standard room, if you paid less than $239 then it could be even more. I don't think you will be able to do it for $1000 for 14 days as that would only be $71 per day.

Agree. And upgrades to Savannah/Pool View at AKL are quite common even for us Americans. I went in January of this year, put on a happy face, and went from standard to Savannah. Best vacation ever.

 

[mport]

On our last trip we did exactly that we upgraded to concierge at check in-we did have a savanna view room though and the cost was about $100 per night.

 

[Frances999]

Hi again Allie

Whilst we were in the AKL concierge lounge last August we were talking to an English family who upgraded to concierge from a standard room. They also booked through Virgin Holidays. The front desk asked them if they would like to upgrade (they didn't even know about concierge services) whilst they were checking-in. They said it was an additional $160 per night if I remember correctly.

 

[TammiMcMan]

It never hurts to ask. Depending on what they quote you for an upgrade, if you can't do all 14 days, perhaps you could do a week in concierge. If that's a possibilty, I would also try to get a room where you won't have to move. I believe if you're on the 5th floor, they can simply encode your keys to give you 6th floor lounge access.

Good luck

 

[SB in KY]

I think it quite unlikely that there would be 14 consecutive nights in concierge that were not sold out...especially in Oct.....there are many dates that month that are not showing any availability already. You can certainly ask when you arrive, but don't be disappointed if the answer is no. I think the previous posters idea of perhaps asking to upgrade for 1 week might be much more realistic. (and more likely to fit into your budget as well)...it would be a lovely way to end the trip (I think it would be much easier to "move up" to concierge the last week than to "move down" from it after the first week. You will probably be spending more time in the parks the first week anyways, and by the second week might enjoy a more leisurely pace and take time to enjoy the lounge, etc).