Comments on: Right state, wrong Ramada

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:13:36 +0000

I understand the need for hotels to have non refundable clauses, but as we all know anything binding can be changed when all parties agree to the change. For a hotel to not change an obvious mistake within minutes of the booking is wrong if you ask me. I could see if it were booked two weeks before and only the night before he was to arrive the problem was noticed. This was not the case. Shame on Ramada for allowing a dumb policy to override good customer service.

By: Nigel Appleby

Nigel Appleby — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:10:58 +0000

Last August we flew to England with Zoom airlines who promptly stopped operating 2 days later. For my return I had booked a room at Gatwick’s Hilton Hotel because Zoom flew from Gatwick to Vancouver. I had to rebook my flight with British Airways who had a special for stranded Zoom passengers and who fly from Heathrow. I tride to change my booking from the Gatwick Hilton to Heathrow’s. No was the firm reply because my booking was non-refundable; I even tried the Zoom sob-story! In the end it was cheaper to use the shuttle bus to Gatwick and return to Heathrow. Fortunately I had the time. I certainly never expected that I would want to change hotels but it was ok in the end. By the way my wife was to fly back from Belfast, which is one reason we flew Zoom – they were the only airline which had a direct service Belfast to Vancouver, BC. So she had to terminals at Heathrow. Not the funnest thing in the world.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:46:48 +0000

Geoff, I understand when travel agents are necessary, but for a couple nights’ stay in a U.S. hotel? Absolutely in no circumstances would I hire a travel agent to do a booking I can easily do myself in 5 minutes or less. $30 is $30 especially when the room rate is $75 or $100 a night. I understand your need for work, but sorry, no way in this situation. And I’m not a fool.

I would also agree that a person needs to recheck and recheck their reservation to make sure it’s correct before they hit the “confirm” button.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:19:06 +0000

If you are acting as your own travel agent, then you are responsible for the errors that you make. Our office would have charged you $30.00 to get the exact same rates and would be responsible if we sold the wrong property. As they say “a lawyer that represents himself has a fool for a client” the same applies for traveling

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:53:28 +0000

I booked a flight with Frontier (nonrefundable, obviously) and got am/pm confused. I realized my error within minutes and called them, confessing my error and asking for help. They quickly fixed it, changing the reservation to another flight which was the same price. I wish they would use the 24 hour clock when listing flights! I also resolve to be more careful!

By: Jennifer (the other one)

Jennifer (the other one) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:19:57 +0000

It was nice of them to let him change it, but really… everyone should know to double-check names, dates, and places for non-refundable reservations.

By: Chicky

Chicky — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:10:18 +0000

I’ve found the online, N/R rates are usually best for last-minute travel. If my hubby and I want to head up to Nashville, for instance, on a Friday evening and decide we want to do it Friday afternoon, then the N/R rate is usually the best deal going. We’re pretty well certain we’re going to use the room and it has always worked for us. However, ALWAYS call the property directly to make sure they have your room booked. Learned that on this Web site. LOL.

At any rate, I’m glad Mr. Johnson was able to get this resolved in his favor.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:49:43 +0000

Chris, I need to disagree here.

The advanced purchase (often cheapest) rates are always very clearly listed as nonrefundable. If one is going to book one of these rates, they need to be certain that it is indeed the property and rate they want.

As such, I never book the advanced purchase rate. I want the ability to rate shop if the rate drops.

By: Carrie Charney

Carrie Charney — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:03:42 +0000

When I book through the hotel website, I never take the cheapest nonrefundable room, just in case. The exception is when I am staying at a hotel for a day or two before meeting a group tour, usually out of the U.S.. Then, I include it in my trip insurance policy.

By: Charles Lichtenwalner

Charles Lichtenwalner — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:15:13 +0000

I often use hotel websites to book rooms and usually find that the rates for nonrefundable reservations are markedly lower than any other “deal”. That said, it behooves one to ensure that the room will be utilized as per the reservation. I recently booked a room at the Charles De Gaulle Airport Hilton and the advance purchase nonrefundable rate was about $130.00 or less than the not-as-convenient, poorly-rated Holiday Inn nearby. I’m counting on being able to use the room and if a tagedy occurs to preclude my staying there. I’m probably out the money but I figure I have a 99.9% chance of saving real dollars with the rate.

By: Carver Farrow

Carver Farrow — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:03:45 +0000

I’vedone that by accident. I have found that being open and upfront and letting them know that you consider it a favor if they made the change often helps. I also found that being a member of the hotel’s loyalty program really helps.