Prepaying for bottle service

[iamkhai]

Ok so I am just curious what people think about this since I did it. To me it seems like an obvious no brainer. My thought process was that I a) wanted to get my table locked in and b) wanted to ensure it was paid for BEFORE going.

With regards to the later, I didn't want any issues come bill time of everyone scrambling, and telling the waitress to split it 3-5 ways and dealing with that hassle. Plus I figure with how drunk we will be, it is probably smarter to have prepaid for it.

So what's everyone else's thoughts?

[Scottish_Vegaslover]

Didnt even know this was possible!

Will definitely be trying this out to save the hassle of scrambling everyone's money together and people being out of pocket.

An absolute no brainer for me aswell.

[boags]

yep, easy enough to do and it isn't uncommon.

Process is to align with the host in advance to pre-auth the agreed minimum, plus taxes. Host emails you the pre-auth forms, you fill and sign and send back with front and back copies of the credit card and drivers lic for the card holder.

Venue then does a pre-auth on the card, typically on the day of your booking, which they then ring through when you're all done and spent. Cash tipping to the host on the night is no different to normal, ie you can't pre-auth cash tips.

Pre-auth isn't really any different to just dropping a card on the night, except for:

1. piece of mind that your booking is more 'solid'.
2. good for corporate entertaining, where you want to bill against a card where the cardholder may not be physically present at the end of the night.
3. good way to cap your table spend, especially if you, or someone on your table, is really loose and has a tendancy to get off the chain when they party and rack up a stupid bill...

In our group, this person is usually me

[WarreN]

Definitely don't see anything negative about this especially if you collect the money from your buddies beforehand as well. (you never know when someone might have too much and decided to skip a night)

[FunkyFresh]

Definitely don't see anything negative about this especially if you collect the money from your buddies beforehand as well. (you never know when someone might have too much and decided to skip a night)

HA! Thats so true bra...

[Guest]

The only downside is if someone gets sick or something unforeseeable happens. I would never prepay on a table because I want to make sure I get seated on time and at a location I like. The host needs to complete their end of the bargain completely before we start spending up a storm

[iowajayhawk]

I was at Tao on Saturday and we just paid cash and 1 person paid with credit card when we got our table. It worked well to make sure everyone paid right when we got in.

[iamkhai]

Yeah one thing I forgot to mention was that my pre-pay was in fact a true pre-pay. My trip is in 2 weeks or so and it's already been processed. I did it this way for a couple of other reasons than what I listed above.

1. I wanted to ensure that the money was spent when I had it, versus getting to Vegas, having a bad streak then making matters worse because I was down on my luck.

2. With Christmas right around the corner, I needed it to happen BEFORE my wife started shopping and watching the money like a hawk. She only does it once a year, but it's from Thanksgiving until middle of January that she towers over it.

3. I'll be there for a conference first and if any of my buddies from there that can't afford to go out, but want to, I don't have a problem making them pay me less. Based on the deals I got, we have plenty of booze anyways.

[Guest]

from an industry stand point, i am all for this. many many reason for it, a few are:

1. Tables flake, cancel, etc. You dont know how many times ive heard the old "my buddy, wife, GF is sick, so we cant make it but thank you anyway". With a pre auth, the table is sold, so they cant back out. Side note: groups of ten dont usually stay in the hotel room when one friend is sick, so i know most of the time its not a legit excuse.

2. pre shift table holds. If you have a pre auth, again your coming for sure, so i or any other manager of a nightclub will hold a table for the customer. it also allows us to determine which server will work the section and what type of guests to place around. Ie a group of 10 guys with a cc auth will have a group of all girls next to them.

3. no chance of a min bump. we all have bosses, and even i cant hold a 250 btl table til 2am on the dancefloor (i wish i could, but when a club sells out, it sells out and table mins go up). with a cc auth that is your table, no if, ands, or buts.

[Knight]

we have done it before with no problems

[sfnate]

I'm not a fan. Why lock yourself into an event weeks in advance? In my mind the tradeoff of a force spend of $600+ and loss of spontaneity heavily offset any minor benefits.

I like to make game-time decisions. Figure stuff out, call the host that afternoon, get a quote and run with it. Haven't had any problems with that strategy so far.

[dnix]

I'm not a fan. Why lock yourself into an event weeks in advance? In my mind the tradeoff of a force spend of $600+ and loss of spontaneity heavily offset any minor benefits.

I like to make game-time decisions. Figure stuff out, call the host that afternoon, get a quote and run with it. Haven't had any problems with that strategy so far.

+1

NYE most clubs, if not all, require CC auth. Im sure if the demand was there they would do this every weekend, but reservations would probably go down, and walk-ins would go up.

And CC auth doesnt necessarily guarantee table location. Only that you have a table with a set min.

[Guest]

And CC auth doesnt necessarily guarantee table location. Only that you have a table with a set min.

Depends on who you are dealing with, in most cases it does.

[iamkhai]

I'm not a fan. Why lock yourself into an event weeks in advance? In my mind the tradeoff of a force spend of $600+ and loss of spontaneity heavily offset any minor benefits.

I like to make game-time decisions. Figure stuff out, call the host that afternoon, get a quote and run with it. Haven't had any problems with that strategy so far.

Yes this does lock you into a specific spot for the night, however the plus side is that I don't have to spend ANY time trying to figure out what we are going to do once there.

Imagine this hypothetical situation, you and your buddies are willing and able to spend $800 for the night at any of the clubs. You contact a host but the host turns out to be an asshole and basically hard sells you for 2k instead of what you can spend. So that simple little call turns into 15 or 20 minutes.

Even when you get the next person that you talk to and it's back to partying, that 15 minute call could irk you all night. Why not take that out of the equation?

And before you say it won't happen, it did happen to me when trying to set stuff up (even before asking about pre-authorizing).

[dnix]

Of course it can happen, BUT No Host can ruin my night in Vegas. Ive had my share of situations, shakedown, bait and switch, ect. and my good time will not be affected.

I try to have a number to 2 host for most of the clubs in Vegas. If something happens like that at the door, I just switch venues. If its before I get to the venue, Ill reach out to a different host. Youve choosen to do CC auth, which is fine. It works for you. I would prefer that choice to remain a choice though, and not be forced into it. My preference.

Ive done CC auth 1 time, and my table selection was not honored. Good time wasnt ruined then either. The tip was though.