If you’re wondering how to get free hotel upgrades for an upcoming special occasion trip with one simple email, this blog post is for you. You can even copy my exact email template below that has earned me king suite upgrades, champagne toasts upon arrival, complimentary parking, free drinks, free desserts and a bottle of champagne to our room — all for free.
How To Ask For Free Hotel Upgrades Over Email
While I’ll give you access to my free hotel upgrade template you can copy later on (or you can skip to the template by clicking here), there are a few ground rules to cover.
Be Nice
The first rule on how to ask for free hotel upgrades is to expect nothing. After all, if you’re not paying for the extra amenities, you’re not entitled to the extra amenities. Kindness will go far in this scenario! Sending a nice, understanding email without any expectations for free upgrades is rule No. 1.
Send The Email To The Correct Person
Rule No. 2 is to send the email to the correct staff member. You don’t want to send an email asking for a free hotel upgrade to the hotel chain’s customer service or general contact email. Instead, kindly mention the special occasion and request the complimentary upgrades in either (1) your reservation notes or by (2) emailing the front desk of your exact hotel (e.g. if you’re staying at a chain hotel, email the front desk of your exact hotel’s location). Both have worked for me in the past.
Also, note that you may not receive an email response after requesting your upgrades. This is totally fine and does not mean you aren’t receiving the upgrades. In fact, usually, I don’t get a response and still get the free upgrades. The hotel staff are busy, so if there are amenities available to give, they’ll quickly make a note of the amenities on their end for when you check-in. Additionally, they normally can’t guarantee the upgrades (in case the suites sell out for your trip dates, for example), so they gift amenities upon availability at check-in.
Ask For Upgrades For Special Occasions
Finally, rule No. 3 is to reserve asking for free hotel upgrades for special occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries and honeymoons. While there is certainly no harm in asking for just-because hotel stays, the hotel staff are more likely to accommodate if you’re celebrating a special occasion with them.
Free Hotel Upgrade Email Example
For example, Kenny and I just celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we went back to our favorite hotel, the exact place where we said “I do,” The Pfister Hotel. Not only did we save nearly $500 on our 5-star stay by opting for a Sunday night booking over a Friday or Saturday night booking, but we also got a ton of free upgrades because I kindly mentioned it was our anniversary. The upgrades we got included: a free king corner suite upgrade, champagne toast upon arrival, complimentary parking (usually $38 per night), free drinks at the hotel’s high-floor bar, free dessert after dinner at the hotel’s steakhouse, a bottle of champagne in our room and club lounge access (free food).
Pretty sweet, right? Or should I say, pretty… Suite? This is the exact email I sent for these free hotel upgrades. Immediately after I booked our stay, I added the following note to our reservation (like I said, you can also email the front desk if adding a reservation note isn’t an option):
Hello,
My husband, Mr. Kenneth Zalas, and I are excited to celebrate our wedding anniversary with you this fall. In fact, we got married in the Imperial Ballroom of The Pfister, and we plan to make it a family tradition to return to your hotel every anniversary. If you have any complimentary anniversary amenities available during our stay, we would love to partake. If not, we totally understand. Either way, we’re very thankful for your warm hospitality year after year. Thank you in advance!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Indigo Zalas
Hotel Upgrade Email Template
Now that you know the rules to asking for a free hotel room upgrade and have a good idea of how I put those rules to use, you are ready to send your own email. Here’s the email template for you to copy:
Hello,
We are excited to celebrate our [REASON FOR CELEBRATION] with you on [DATE]. If you have any complimentary celebration amenities available during our stay, we would love to partake. If not, we totally understand. Either way, we’re very thankful for your warm hospitality. Thank you in advance!
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
Download the template for free here.
Better yet, if you have a personal connection to the hotel, mention that personal connection too. As previously mentioned, I added this segment to a return stay request at the hotel we got married in: “…We got married in the imperial ballroom of your hotel, and we plan to make it a family tradition to return to your hotel every anniversary.” Even something as simple as adding your hotel loyalty number could score you more brownie points.
This exact email template for complimentary hotel upgrades is free for you to download here (click here). Feel free to copy, paste and personalize this message for your next celebratory stay. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get some free upgrades too.
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