Hidden charges

[aceinyerface]

Trying to book a hotel in New Orleans for our anniversary.

I picked out one that was a low price ($85) in a decent location, told SWMBO to go ahead and book it if she liked it. She went to hotels.com to see the customer reviews and it turns out they charge a $10 internet fee (whether you use it or not) and a $35 parking fee, as add ons. So the ACTUAL room rate is $130 a night. A 53% price deception.

Of course, I suggested they go attempt to mate in some uncomfortable fashion.

Using hotels.com this time, we selected a bed and breakfast with high reviews for $109 a night, free everything.

They almost got me, I hate that! Dishonest business practices really irk me!

 

[hig789]

That's pretty shady. My wife just looked called about a room for Friday night for a meeting for school and the hotel quoted her $110 a night and hotels.com we got it for $53.

I also just bought some concert tickets, the starting price was $37 and they ended up being $50 by the time they got all their fee's out of it. But I got free shipping. WOOO HOOO!

 

[valleyrider]

Hotels are all about the time you book them, weekends are cheapest with December being the cheapest month to book.. Typically the aaa rate is the best but call the hotel and check, of it is cheaper online then book online but know that if anything goes wrong or you want to change anything the hotel can't help you out you have to go through your booking site. Sometimes the online price is much more than if you called the hotel direct, working front desk at a Hilton owned hotel I can see what we charge the online companies and it is sometimes the same rate we charge for a room which means they are charging you even more so be sure to check with the hotel first for best prices. Just walking into a hotel to check for a room is not always the best idea either as the price can be set to whatever the worker feels like setting it to, I have upsold many rooms that way above what cost would be yet kept the customer extremely happy in the mean time thinking they were getting a great deal.

 

[Go West Young Man]

I don't know that paying for parking is a 'hidden' fee, anymore than, say, breakfast at the restaurant is.

That 'internet fee' is a total scam, though.

 

[SuperJew]

I don't know that paying for parking is a 'hidden' fee, anymore than, say, breakfast at the restaurant is.

Parking, like the internet fee, depends on if he plans on using that particular service. In big cities, I can see paying for parking, but if he has no intent on actually USING it (i.e. flying to New Orleans, taking a cab/shuttle to the airport) then its a ripoff.

If he doesn't plan on eating breakfast at the hotel restaurant, he shouldn't have to pay for it, right?

 

[global_dev]

i stayed at the Monteleone in the French Quarter recently for a work conference. It was very nice... Enjoy the B&B.

 

[aceinyerface]

$85/2=$42 per person per night, the car stays for $35. Hell, for another $7 get that sucker a pillow and blanket and treat it like a person! A little high on the parking, don't you think?

That isn't being a guest, that is being a girlfriend. "you can stay over night, but you're gonna get screwed!"

Anyway, lesson learned. The B&B should be nice, as all good B&B's are.

 

[_JP_]

I'm hoping that after the govenment gets done with requiring airlines the to fully disclose cost of flying with them that they will go after other industries engaging in the same deceptive practices. Hotels would be a good start.

Kind of like shipping on eBay, where shipping is used as a means to set a minimum price for the item offered.

 

[Doc4]

I have mixed feelings about "add on" prices for stuff at hotels. Yeah, if I actually want the stuff, I like it to be "free", but if I don't need it I don't like it being "buried" in the basic rate.

The one that got me, though, was a $35 fee per night for a second occupant in the room. ... 'cause if SWMBO comes with me, she's gonna use up $35 worth of towels and tiny shampoo.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Parking, like the internet fee, depends on if he plans on using that particular service. In big cities, I can see paying for parking, but if he has no intent on actually USING it (i.e. flying to New Orleans, taking a cab/shuttle to the airport) then its a ripoff.

If he doesn't plan on eating breakfast at the hotel restaurant, he shouldn't have to pay for it, right?

The parking fee is only applied if he parks a car in their lot, not across the board.

$85/2=$42 per person per night, the car stays for $35. Hell, for another $7 get that sucker a pillow and blanket and treat it like a person! A little high on the parking, don't you think?

That isn't being a guest, that is being a girlfriend. "you can stay over night, but you're gonna get screwed!"

Anyway, lesson learned. The B&B should be nice, as all good B&B's are.

You need to get up to the city more often! $35 for overnight parking at a hotel in a major city is pretty standard these days.

 

[aceinyerface]

You need to get up to the city more often! $35 for overnight parking at a hotel in a major city is pretty standard these days.

NO, it isn't! You are just used to taking it with a smile, NOT something we do down here.

All the uncountable martial arts tournaments and training sessions I travelled to in the last umpteen years, and all the getaways and work trips, I've never paid for parking. It is ALWAYS included in the room rate. I've probably averaged one stay per year in New Orleans just for fun, for the last 20 years, and never paid parking at a hotel.

 

[_JP_]

The parking could just be a way to make the room fee the higher amount. And be able to advertise a lower room fee than the other guy does by splitting out the parking fee as an add on. The same thing the airline industry has been doing.

 

[aceinyerface]

The parking could just be a way to make the room fee the higher amount. And be able to advertise a lower room fee than the other guy does by splitting out the parking fee as an add on. The same thing the airline industry has been doing.

That is exactly what it is, devised to trick the consumer. Exactly the thing that made me mad. $130 would have been a decent rate, and I probably would have paid that. I'll end up spending the difference on cabs since the B&B is not walking distance to the Quarter like the hotel. But rub me the wrong way by trying to trick me and I take my business elsewhere.