I am staying at a nice hotel in a major western city hotel that wants to charge me $25 a day for WiFi! What should my reaction to management be? Is there a way to approach this so they provide it to me for free?
You don't need to do any of these things (threaten them, sign up for loyalty programs, etc). I found all you need to do is go to the front desk and ask them comp you the internet. Period.
Sometimes they try to say no by saying "we charge for internet" (uh, I know... that's why I'm asking) but then what you do is just say "no, I'd like you comp me for the internet" and just stare at them and smile. At that point they will either just do it, or they'll ask their manager and you repeat the request, and they will say yes.
I used to get really bent out of shape about this (because WTF, are they going to charge me extra for electricity and water too? This is a utility, Fred Flinstone), until I found that just asking and being politely insistent worked 100% of the time.
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EDIT: I have been away from Quora a long time and it looks like these days many people from other English-speaking countries have joined - hello my Indian brothers and sisters! Anyhow, "comp" is an American slang word that means "to give for free." It has some relation to "complimentary," possibly the verb is "to make complimentary."
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