Jeremy received a solicitation from Hilton to donate his points from the chain’s loyalty program, HHonors, to the Red Cross in order to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti. He thinks that this e-mail blast was in poor taste. Do you? [More]
hotels
Sheraton Package Deal Costs Less A La Carte
By 1.15.10
The travel review site Oyster Blog breaks down a Sheraton Nassau vacation deal that actually costs more than it would if you purchased the flight and hotel stay separately. [More]
Harrah's Las Vegas Resorts Say No To Resort Fees
By 1.13.10
If you don’t like the idea of paying a resort fee the next time you visit Las Vegas, make sure you check out the various Harrah’s Entertainment resorts. Today they sent a press release to travel blogger and temporary TSA aggravator Chris Elliott in which they state that all of their Vegas resorts “exclude mandatory resort fees.” [More]
Watch Out For Undisclosed Resort Fees When Using Sites Like Priceline
By 12.28.09
Travel consumer advocate Christopher Elliott has a new post about an undisclosed $15/day “resort fee” that Trump International Hotel Las Vegas plans to tack onto a customer’s bill. The surprise is that the customer reserved the room through Priceline, and thought when he made the reservation that Priceline was telling him the final room rate. [More]
Comfort Inn Driver Rescues Abandoned Holiday Inn Customers, Then Takes Them To Wendy's
By 12.23.09
Here’s a nice holiday-themed story of how a kind Comfort Inn driver not only helped out a group of stranded travelers, but even agreed to take them to get food after they checked into their hotel. Maybe he was hoping for some big tips, or maybe he’s got some grudge against the local Holiday Inn. (Or maybe he’s a nice guy.) Whatever his motivation, he probably just earned some repeat business for Comfort Inn. [More]
Allegiant Refunds Vegas Traveler For Hotel Bumping
By 12.18.09
Blogger Krystalatwork complained she was bumped from Harrah’s on a Vegas trip and had to stay at Flamingo, then was promised a refund that was slow in coming. [More]
UPDATED: Bumped From A Hotel, Promised A Refund That Hasn't Come
By 12.15.09
Personal finance blogger Krystalatwork traveled to Las Vegas, booking a prepaid stay at Harrah’s. But along with a number of other travelers, she found no room at the inn and was forced to stay at the considerably less posh Flamingo, then promised a full refund. [More]
Planet Hollywood Responds To Negative Facebook Comment With Free Wine And Chocolates
By 12.13.09
Frustrated with a room mix-up and subsequent bad customer service at Planet Hollywood’s hotel/casino in Las Vegas, Brad expressed his frustration in a note on their Facebook fan page. [More]
Hotel: No Sir, That Smell Is Not A Decomposing Guest. (It Was.)
By 11.5.09
The Jane Hotel in NYC was once (and still sort of is) a “residential” hotel. Even though it’s been renovated and is open for business, there are still residents in un-upgraded rent-controlled rooms. And sometimes they die. And people don’t notice right away.
Hilton Complimentary Internet Access In Lobby Costs $10 A Day
By 11.2.09
At Hilton Washington Dulles Airport hotel, everything is complimentary! That’s because to them “complimentary” actually means “for a price.” Last week, a linguistics professor tried to take advantage of their “Complimentary High-speed Internet access on the lobby level,” which is how they describe the service on their website. He quickly discovered that he’d have to agree to a $9.99 charge in order to get the free service.
Rent Someone's Home On Your Next Vacation
By 10.30.09
The next time you travel to another city, it might be cheaper, or at least more interesting, to rent directly from a local homeowner. Cool Tools says Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO.com) is a great way to find rental opportunities when you travel.
4 Questions That Will Fix The Travel Industry
By 10.27.09
When will we see an airline passenger bill of rights? Why aren’t there 5-star and 2-star airlines? How do you deal with hotels filling review sites with fake testimonials? These questions came up in a conversation about the travel industry I had the other night. Here’s some possible answers:
Reader Gets 162,000 Vaporized Hilton Points Reinstated
By 10.7.09
Rikki is happy to report that her 162,000 Hilton points that disappeared without notice or warning are reinstated!
Are You A Hotel Trasher? Don't Stay In Australia
By 9.23.09
Guests Behaving Badly (GBB) is an Australia-only customer blacklist that hotels there can use to weed out potentially bad guests. From their FAQ:
Reverse Sneaky Fees With These Free Complaint Letters
By 9.21.09
Want to claim a missing rebate, or reverse sneaky cable, bank, cellphone or hotel fee? These free complaint letter templates posted by Gotcha Capitalism and Red Tape Chronicles author Bob Sullivan are a godsend. It’s like Madlibs for money.
Hyatts In Boston Decide To Outsource Housekeeping
By 9.17.09
Housekeepers at three Hyatt hotels in Boston made over $15 an hour and had benefits like 401(k) retirement plans and health insurance. On August 31st, Hyatt laid them off en masse—after first having them train their replacements under the guise of creating a holiday fill-in staff—and turned the housekeeping duties over to an outside firm.
Traveling Domestically? Consider A Hostel
By 9.16.09
Tough times has forced a developer in South Florida to rethink his condo hotel development, so he’s reconfigured it as a hotel-hostel that offers not just the standard shared room arrangements familiar to any college student who’s traveled, but also slightly more expensive private rooms with kitchenettes and basic hotel amenities for $50 a night, writes the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
