A hotel executive once showed me some rooms in one of his hotels, and when the first room key he tried didn’t work, he pulled out another. As he opened the door, he told me that he always gets two room keys because one of them often doesn’t work. It’s funny: I’ve been getting two room keys for decades, even when I’m alone, and here’s why you should, too. RELATED: The Truth About Hotel Room Key Cards
I learned this trick the hard way while in one of those mega Las Vegas hotels. After walking what felt like 5,000 steps to my room, my key didn’t work. I had to make the trek all the way back down to the front desk and wait for a receptionist to make me a new one. I was reminded not to not keep my hotel room key near a credit card or cell phone since they can demagnetize it. RELATED: 5 Things a Hotelier Says She Would Never Do at a Hotel

There’s another reason why I always ask for two room keys. As you probably know, many hotel rooms (especially in Asia and Europe) require you to leave a key card in a designated slot to keep the lights/power in the room on.

RELATED: Always Do This Before Checking Out of Your Hotel Room

Of course, you don’t have to use the room key from that hotel, as any similarly sized card will do the trick. I’ve used other hotel key cards and even my business card.

The third reason I always get two hotel room keys is because I like to keep one as a souvenir. This is especially true of the ones that have a cool design or the name of the hotel on them like the one above from my recent trip to Santa Barbara. Speaking of Santa Barbara, my family and I have stayed at a number of great hotels there so if you’re planning your own trip, check out our reviews of the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara, The Kimton Goodland (now The Leta) and the Hideaway Santa Barbara

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Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.

3 Comments On "3 Reasons To Always Get Two Hotel Room Keys"
  1. Susan Athey|

    We’ve been using miscellaneous loyalty cards to “power” our rooms for years. Supermarket ones work well. A few months ago we found a hotel where only the hotel key card with an RFID chip or one of the public transport cards from Bangkok with an RFID chip worked. An ordinary loyalty card didn’t work and we tried all of them in our wallets.

  2. Chet K.|

    It’s the same on cruise ships, I pointed that out to the cabin steward and the next time I was on that line, it was implemented, forgot how, but I know they listened.

  3. Jane B|

    Re using wireless ear devices on a plane. I have bluetooth enabled hearing aids, also with a coil setting that ties into the coils in most theaters and play venues, etc.
    How could this be used on a plane for sound on movies?
    Thanks!

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