It never hurts to ask

I’ll keep this post short since I’m writing on my iPad’s touch screen. I love my iPad, but writing more than a sentence or two is a bit tortuous. I’m writing from my room at the Hotel Intercontinental in London. I booked three nights at this fabulous hotel using 80,000 points I “earned” by signing up for the Chase Priority Club visa, plus 10,000 points I had earlier accrued, plus $60 per day. The same room, if I booked a paid stay, would have set me back over $700 per night! Despite getting such a great deal for a standard room, I hoped for a room upgrade as well. The good news was that the Chase credit card bonus alone was enough to bump me up from no status to Priority Club Platinum level. However, I had heard that Priority Club status means nothing to Hotel Intercontinental since they have a separate Ambassadors Club program (which I am not a member of). Worse, I have read that even Ambassador Club members do not get any perks when booking an award stay. So, I went in with two strikes against me: no Ambassador Club, and an award booking. At check in, I asked the clerk if room upgrades were available. He told me they were, but that there would be an up-charge. So, I pointed out my Platinum status. He typed furiously for a few minutes and soon enough came up with an upgrade to a gorgeous room on the club floor! Pushing my luck, I also asked if he could comp my internet. In return he gave me a code for 24 hours of internet access! So, back to the title of the post: it never hurts to ask

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