Travel Troubleshooter: An old card, a new rate
Nana Fosu books a room in Miami and gets a confirmation from her hotel. But just four days before her arrival, a manager from the hotel e-mails her with bad news: her credit card has been declined and her reservation was canceled. Fosu offers a new credit card number but it's too late. Rebooking will cost her an extra $1,130. Shouldn't the hotel honor the first price? close to twice my original rate. No one has explained this price change and I'm so worried that I'm going to have to pay it because I can't find another hotel for the dates. I tried speaking to the general manager yesterday, but I was kept on hold and then asked to call back. When I did, I was told that he had left the building. Can you help? -- Nana Fosu, London A: If you confirmed your reservation by phone and in writing, then your hotel should honor your first rate. Raising the price of your room by $1,130 seems unfair, given that you made your reservation weeks in advance. Some hotel reservation systems work a lot like those used by the airlines. You know how airline ticket prices change all the time? That's called "yield management" -- a sophisticated program that predicts demand and sets prices accordingly. That's why the rate you pay two weeks before the flight leaves is usually dramatically less than if you buy it the day of the flight. The system predicts you'll be willing to pay more, and it's usually correct. Hotels manage their room inventory in a similar way. You happened to book your room on a busy holiday weekend when demand was at its peak. Reservations systems often will adjust the rate to get the most money for a room. You handled this problem by the book. Getting the confirmation in writing, and calling to double-check, meant that you were covered. There was no way to know that the hotel would try to run your old credit card several days after it verified your reservation. Although you were told that you would be billed after the stay, a subsequent e-mail from the hotel confirmed that you were required to make "a full deposit" when booking the reservation, which to me means you'll pay for everything before you arrive. I visited Mercury's Web site and the only clue I could find that your credit card might be charged in advance was a vague notice that all reservations "require a valid credit card." But I could see no mention of when the card might be billed. According to the correspondence between you and the hotel, your reservation was automatically canceled when your old credit card was run. The Mercury was kind enough to notify you, but when you tried to make a new reservation, it charged you the newer -- and more expensive -- rate. The hotel should have overridden its system and given you the first rate it had quoted you. Next time you make a hotel reservation, don't cancel the credit card you used to make it. That might lead to complications like the one you experienced. I suggested that you contact the hotel by e-mail again, politely requesting that they honor your first rate. I asked you to copy me on the note so that they would know we had discussed your case. You received e-mail from Chris Rollins, a regional manager for the hotel, apologizing for the "misunderstanding" and saying your reservation is "fine and confirmed." |
