-
I think people are missing the point. The major reason for HfP or FT to exist is to figure out where and how we can maximise the benefits as most are not guaranteed.
In my experience the chances are close to zero with hotels/com. As a Hilton diamond, with my own itineraries, I’ve mostly got decent upgrades, good brekkie, welcome gifts etc, which convinced me that my chances are high.
I guess the most useful approach is to start a thread of hotels which recognises hotels/com’s gold. I am sure that thread would have 3 inputs. Why bother?If you want true vip, gha is the way, I think.
I stayed at dozens of hotels in the last 7-8 years as hotels.com Gold member and have been treated well. I can’t ever say about Hilton Diamond upgrading to royal suites whereas I have with hotels.com.
Hilton Diamond benefits have been so diluted after pandemic and at most you can expect an upgrade to low-level suite. Hence, why I am not chasing status with Hilton any longer and won’t be staying much unless it makes sense price/quality wise.
What is clear though that experiences differ.
I have never managed to get refund on non-refundable rate (I did ask) even before pandemic that @Rui N and you refer to. It’s also not a published benefit. It is very likely that some agents did it against the policy so you got lucky.
@RasMas Three months ago they put me in another hotel that cost four times more than the original booking due to the closure. Just last week, I got a voucher due to wifi not working at a property I stayed at in Frankfurt.
I never claimed BRG, they are just a marketing gimmick, not just at hotels.com, but any hotel.
Regarding non-refundable hotels being refundable – this was just a temporary measure during covid.
They actually had a benefit, at least at some point (before covid) that gold members could have more flexibility on cancelling nonrefundable stays. Used this a few times but they tightened this up.
As for the BRG this was actually a real benefit as it would be valid any date up until 48 hours before your stay. So unlike the hotel chain BRGs that had to be submitted withing 24-72 hours depending on chain, the hotels.com BRG was a really good benefit. It was actually possible to get the best non refundable rate for a hotel if you kept monitoring prices up until the stay. Would book non refundable rates with less hesitation because of it.
Nice that they came through for you on the hotel closing and getting you something nicer.
I actually think when it comes to providing a service when an individual property fails you that hotels.com would do quite well. For example for chain hotels if an individual property cancelled your stay the chain might just tell you to eat s*** while if that happens on a hotels.com booking they will find you something else. Just not sure that this will still be the case with hotels.com…
I stayed at dozens of hotels in the last 7-8 years as hotels.com Gold member and have been treated well. I can’t ever say about Hilton Diamond upgrading to royal suites whereas I have with hotels.com.
Hilton Diamond benefits have been so diluted after pandemic and at most you can expect an upgrade to low-level suite. Hence, why I am not chasing status with Hilton any longer and won’t be staying much unless it makes sense price/quality wise.
What is clear though that experiences differ.
I have never managed to get refund on non-refundable rate (I did ask) even before pandemic that @Rui N and you refer to. It’s also not a published benefit. It is very likely that some agents did it against the policy so you got lucky.
I think it used to be stated as more flexibility on nonrefundable hotel bookings. From what I remember they didn’t actually state directly that you could cancel a nonrefundable booking and get your money back.
From my experience the CS agents at hotels.com would call the hotel and ask and the hotels would usually accept or I would pressure the agents who would pressure the hotels. Either way I got my refunds. Their Gold email service would be quite accommodating, but the gold old days seem to be gone 🙁
As for covid bookings being refundable, hotels.com cancelled one of my bookings after a misunderstanding and didn’t give me the voucher for a future stay as promised… Was hard to forgive them, but I still found better value with them through reward nights, cashback and BRGs.
Still dreading the onekey program implementation and seeing how many properties will be VIP, and if they can provide tangible benefits. But would welcome any suggestions for similar sites to hotels.com that provide some decent value.
I never expect these so-called privileges (and those from other schemes) to amount to anything meaningful. In larger hotels, you’re just one person out of thousands who pass through each week, and, despite the gloss, you will never be a VIP. The only exception I’ve found is the Amex FHR programme; whenever I’ve used it, the hotel has given me a printed list of my benefits with a thorough verbal explanation of how each applies to me. I have to say that I’ve found that a tad embarrassing when other customers with lesser privileges are in earshot.
If you want to be well looked after, eschew the big-name schemes and become a repeat guest at a high class owner-managed boutique hotel. I have favourite hotels where I am recognised immediately I walk through the entrance, welcomed by name, offered a drink, assured that my favourite room has been reserved for me, and engaged in a genuinely interested conversation about my plans for my stay with an abundance of up-to-date local advice. That’s real VIP treatment.
That sounds like an awful experience.
become a repeat guest at a high class owner-managed boutique hotel.
Good advice but impractical. Unless you are retired / have local connections / business / friends, rarely people visit the same place. That’s the whole point of a loyalty scheme at the major chains. Your stays elsewhere will make a difference (theoretically). But I agree if you plan to make repeat visits, always best to have personal conversations with the staff.
@BuildBackBetter, fair point that some people don’t like to return to the same place. But the point I’m making is that no hotel will genuinely regard you as a VIP unless you are a repeat guest in that one property. A Hilton in Budapest doesn’t care that you often stay in other Hiltons; that simply makes you more expensive to them.
become a repeat guest at a high class owner-managed boutique hotel.
Good advice but impractical. Unless you are retired / have local connections / business / friends, rarely people visit the same place. That’s the whole point of a loyalty scheme at the major chains. Your stays elsewhere will make a difference (theoretically). But I agree if you plan to make repeat visits, always best to have personal conversations with the staff.
It’s a truly bizarre observation to suggest that only the retired etc. revisit the same places. I know we aren’t alone in doing so having read on HfP how many repeat visits people make eg to Dubai and New York. It’s great to try new things but equally staying somewhere you know gives the opportunity to get to know a place so much better and if one finds a formula that works for all the family, is good value, has lots of activities, sights, good food etc. that’s worth an awful lot in our book. We have often pored over alternatives only to conclude we’re better off at the place we know although we might add a week of different places around it. Lots of people also like returning to the same place for skiing where it can otherwise take quite a bit to familiarise oneself with a resort.
The point many of us were trying to make is that the chains have got people totally hooked and I don’t think that they are giving you as much as you think – not even the best price. A bit of powered egg, packets of licked ham and a few reheated croissants seems enough to sway people’s choices when there is a whole world of fabulous independents that don’t have the corporate carpets, pictures, smell or general ordinariness. Oh, and they are cheaper/better value.
Never ceases to amaze me how many people book into a Hilton because, y’know, free breakfast and welcome amenity, when a better hotel around the corner includes free breakfast in the room rate and the welcome enmity is little more than a bottle of water.
I quite like the autocorrect error in my last post so I will leave it stand…it aptly describes my relationship with large hotel groups!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
