diff --git a/lib/common/util.js b/lib/common/util.js
index b2bcf41c949..f7c11ffbe7d 100644
--- a/lib/common/util.js
+++ b/lib/common/util.js
@@ -203,6 +203,22 @@ function getType(value) {
   return Object.prototype.toString.call(value).match(/\s(\w+)\]/)[1];
 }
 
+/**
+ * Assign a value to a property in an Array iterator.
+ *
+ * @param {string} prop - Name of the property to assign to the object.
+ * @param {*} value - Value of the property.
+ * @return {function}
+ */
+function propAssign(prop, value) {
+  return function(obj) {
+    obj[prop] = value;
+    return obj;
+  };
+}
+
+module.exports.propAssign = propAssign;
+
 /**
  * Check if an object is of the given type.
  *
diff --git a/lib/datastore/request.js b/lib/datastore/request.js
index 0ca5561ccef..a397936d8b3 100644
--- a/lib/datastore/request.js
+++ b/lib/datastore/request.js
@@ -147,6 +147,14 @@ DatastoreRequest.prototype.get = function(keys, callback) {
   });
 };
 
+/**
+ * Maps to {module:datastore/dataset#save}, forcing the method to be `insert`.
+ */
+DatastoreRequest.prototype.insert = function(entities, callback) {
+  entities = util.arrayize(entities).map(util.propAssign('method', 'insert'));
+  this.save(entities, callback);
+};
+
 /**
  * Insert or update the specified object(s). If a key is incomplete, its
  * associated object is inserted and the original Key object is updated to
@@ -243,8 +251,7 @@ DatastoreRequest.prototype.get = function(keys, callback) {
  * ], function(err) {});
  */
 DatastoreRequest.prototype.save = function(entities, callback) {
-  var isMultipleRequest = Array.isArray(entities);
-  entities = isMultipleRequest ? entities : [entities];
+  entities = util.arrayize(entities);
 
   var insertIndexes = [];
 
@@ -346,14 +353,11 @@ DatastoreRequest.prototype.save = function(entities, callback) {
  * ], function(err) {});
  */
 DatastoreRequest.prototype.delete = function(keys, callback) {
-  var isMultipleRequest = Array.isArray(keys);
-  keys = isMultipleRequest ? keys : [keys];
-
   callback = callback || util.noop;
 
   var req = {
     mutation: {
-      delete: keys.map(entity.keyToKeyProto)
+      delete: util.arrayize(keys).map(entity.keyToKeyProto)
     }
   };
 
@@ -527,6 +531,22 @@ DatastoreRequest.prototype.allocateIds = function(incompleteKey, n, callback) {
   });
 };
 
+/**
+ * Maps to {module:datastore/dataset#save}, forcing the method to be `update`.
+ */
+DatastoreRequest.prototype.update = function(entities, callback) {
+  entities = util.arrayize(entities).map(util.propAssign('method', 'update'));
+  this.save(entities, callback);
+};
+
+/**
+ * Maps to {module:datastore/dataset#save}, forcing the method to be `upsert`.
+ */
+DatastoreRequest.prototype.upsert = function(entities, callback) {
+  entities = util.arrayize(entities).map(util.propAssign('method', 'upsert'));
+  this.save(entities, callback);
+};
+
 /**
  * Make a request to the API endpoint. Properties to indicate a transactional or
  * non-transactional operation are added automatically.
diff --git a/test/common/util.js b/test/common/util.js
index b8fd7348c0d..b648a3cfdfd 100644
--- a/test/common/util.js
+++ b/test/common/util.js
@@ -437,4 +437,12 @@ describe('common/util', function() {
       });
     });
   });
+
+  describe('propAssign', function() {
+    it('should assign a property and value to an object', function() {
+      var obj = {};
+      util.propAssign('prop', 'value')(obj);
+      assert.equal(obj.prop, 'value');
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/test/datastore/request.js b/test/datastore/request.js
index 3d49b668a69..deef8e8bf03 100644
--- a/test/datastore/request.js
+++ b/test/datastore/request.js
@@ -142,6 +142,26 @@ describe('Request', function() {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('insert', function() {
+    it('should pass the correct arguments to save', function(done) {
+      request.save = function(entities, callback) {
+        assert.deepEqual(entities, [{
+          key: {
+            namespace: 'ns',
+            path: ['Company'],
+          },
+          data: {},
+          method: 'insert'
+        }]);
+
+        callback();
+      };
+
+      var key = new entity.Key({ namespace: 'ns', path: ['Company'] });
+      request.insert({ key: key, data: {} }, done);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('save', function() {
     it('should save with incomplete key', function(done) {
       request.makeReq_ = function(method, req, callback) {
@@ -461,6 +481,46 @@ describe('Request', function() {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('update', function() {
+    it('should pass the correct arguments to save', function(done) {
+      request.save = function(entities, callback) {
+        assert.deepEqual(entities, [{
+          key: {
+            namespace: 'ns',
+            path: ['Company'],
+          },
+          data: {},
+          method: 'update'
+        }]);
+
+        callback();
+      };
+
+      var key = new entity.Key({ namespace: 'ns', path: ['Company'] });
+      request.update({ key: key, data: {} }, done);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('upsert', function() {
+    it('should pass the correct arguments to save', function(done) {
+      request.save = function(entities, callback) {
+        assert.deepEqual(entities, [{
+          key: {
+            namespace: 'ns',
+            path: ['Company'],
+          },
+          data: {},
+          method: 'upsert'
+        }]);
+
+        callback();
+      };
+
+      var key = new entity.Key({ namespace: 'ns', path: ['Company'] });
+      request.upsert({ key: key, data: {} }, done);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('allocateIds', function() {
     it('should produce proper allocate IDs req protos', function(done) {
       request.makeReq_ = function(method, req, callback) {