Ric Garrido of Loyalty Traveler, the blog devoted to maxing out hotel points and value for the frequent guest, picks up on my post last week on Travelocity’s prepaid hotel rate guarantee.
Ric argues that hotel companies’ own best-rate-guarantee programs are superior to the new Travelocity program, for three reasons: 1) Travelocity caps the number of claims to 5 per customer per month. Hotel chains typically don’t place such a limit. 2) Group rates, such as AAA rates, aren’t covered by the Travelocity guarantee. 3) The loyalty benefits of booking through the hotels’ own sites exceeds the value of the potential rebate via Travelocity.
Ric’s argument may make sense for the high-frequency traveler with high frequent-guest program status — and established loyalty to a given brand, as his blog name implies. But the Achilles heel of the hotel chains’ programs remains their timeframe for making a claim. If you only have hours after purchase to find a lower rate, that’s not a really meaningful guarantee. To Travelocity’s credit (and, to a lesser extent, Orbitz’s credit) the agency’s rebate lasts days, weeks, or even months. And the five-claim limit per month won’t be a problem for all but the most high-volume travelers.
The Travelocity guarantee is far from perfect, as I’ve argued. But it’s not worth dismissing wholesale in favor of the hotels’ own programs.
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November 3rd, 2009 at 12:05 am
Not a meaningful guarantee? I think Ric stakes out his BRG opportunities (=sites offering better prices) before he even makes a booking, so the 24 hr period probably matters very little.
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:28 am
Oliver, yes, the 24-hour guarantee of the hotel chains is meaningful if you are seeking out a “gotcha” reservation in the first place. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with looking for price discrepancies and taking advantage of them. It’s brilliant arbitrage, in fact. But it’s not an insurance policy for the price of the room going down over time.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:01 am
I certainly didn’t mean to imply that I dismiss the Travelocity BRG. As long as hotel booking sites are all going to claim they have the lowest price I just want the consumer to know how to find the best deal.
I just did a side-by-side comparison of Kayak.com rates and Travelocity for two dates (Nov 6 and Nov 10) in San Francisco. I see what look to be valid Travelocity BRG claims for the Clift Hotel, Kimpton Hotel Palomar, and Omni.
I see a possible BRG claim with IHG for the InterContinental San Francisco where Travelocity has the lower rate.
For the guest not interested in loyalty benefits there are great advantages to the Travelocity “Good Buy” BRG.
Hotel rates commonly drop to near low rates in the two weeks before a stay when revenue management doesn’t have adequate bookings. Travelocity offers consumers a great opportunity to lock in a rate and then have the rate lowered and receive $50 if the rate drops.
The Hyatt Regency San Francisco was $229 on Travelocity Friday for Friday November 6. Today the rate has dropped to $199 on Travelocity and Hyatt. A Travelocity booking last Friday could have been backed up with a BRG claim filed today and the member gets the lower rate and $50 credit on future Travelocity “Good Buy” booking.
I avoid prepaid bookings in general, but the Travelocity BRG makes these bookings much less risky.
For me the loyalty program promotional offers generally provide substantial added value to the room rate. For example, Hyatt right now allows a person to earn a free hotel night every two stays, bonus miles, and double elite credit. Book a Hyatt hotel through Travelocity and the guest forfeits all the loyalty program benefits.
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:36 pm
One problem with hotel chain guarantees is that they may not mean anything. Hilton’s, for example, has a reputation for refusing claims on the flimsiest of excuses.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:28 pm
As Randy says, hotels often refuse their claims. Ric admits on his site, he only gets 2 of 3 BRG claims paid by the chains. That’s pretty shitty. I don’t know how well Travelocity will pay out, but that’s a pretty low bar.