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Comment by HumanReadable | Hacker News Reader

As important is to recognize that even if the price cannot be negotiated, oftentimes the service you receive can!

If the waiter seats you somewhere you don't like, don't be afraid to ask for the nicer table! At the hotel, don't be afraid to ask if they have a nicer suite you can have instead.

Often employees are not able to negotiate the price, but they have flexibility in what they can offer you!

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My wife's family does this consistently. But they typically don't even bother to evaluate if the table/room/whatever they've been offered is acceptable or not, they just automatically always ask for "better". It's usually very annoying, as it causes delay, often confusion with the staff member trying to assist them, and sometimes ends up getting something worse than where you started.

Well, don't ask for "better". What's better, anyway?

I have to negotiate this for every auditorium, restaurant, in-person conference, meeting. I'm hard of hearing so where I sit really matters. "Sorry, can we sit somewhere quiet/up front?" is never a problem in a restaurant or auditorium that's only half-full.

I guess a general communication tip is give people objective goals, not subjective ones, and ideally a logical explanation for why you need them, if it's unusual. If it doesn't cost them anything most places are quite happy to oblige, I find.

I've run into this with airlines and rental car companies: being polite and asking if there's anything they can do to help some situation be less cruddy (even it is was your fault that you missed boarding your flight) often nets something that's at least passingly-pleasant

Had Hertz (my least-favorite rental company) give me a discount on a substitute vehicle because I really didn't want to be driving a Suburban for the week (I'd rented a midsize, but they were out of everything but full-size SUVs). They knocked it down to a compact rate for the week (which, to an extent, I didn't really care about - it was a work trip, but I also didn't need all the space and hassle of the big vehicle)

Delta gave my wife and I $400 travel vouchers, rebooked us First Class home, and gave us meal vouchers to make up for getting our honeymoon return trip broken (somehow we ended up on different itineraries). This was right after watching the counter rep do the absolute least to the family in front of us that was extremely rude to the rep.

Just SMILING at the counter rep can make a world of difference :)

I used to get free upgrades at Dollar next to Bradley airport just because I smiled to the manager and his fiancee-then-wife when I'd come in and ask how their weekend was (I spent ~8mos flying into BDL every week several years ago - all but about 3 of those trips utilized Dollar for my car rentals): I'd book the compact of "manager special" rate, and always got bumped up a class (or 4) ...just for being polite

In Las Vegas, always tip the front desk person. When you give them your ID and credit card, also include a $20 bill - or a green chip if you've already started gambling. It's in Las Vegas culture to tip everyone all the time. About half the time, I got a room upgrade that far exceeds the tip while doing this, although that's not really the point.

Also: ask for business class upgrade when checking in flights. If they're not sold by now they're never going to be sold, and the €150 extra the airline gets is a good deal for them. It's one of those discounts where everyone wins.

Of course, you need to be prepared that you might not get it.

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