Reservation frustration

[davedmaine]

I thought this was strange: We have a reservation at the end of the month for a week at RP. Something came up and we have to drop 2 days off the end of our vacation. I called the hotel to drop the 2 days and basically was told that I couldn't do it. The only way was to cancel the whole reservation and then rebook the dates we needed at a much higher price. I asked why we couldn't just keep our reservation and cancel the last two days and the agent said, "That's a very good question." I do a lot of traveling every year and have never run into this issue before. It's clear why they do it, but it's not very customer-friendly.

 

[damo]

I thought this was strange: We have a reservation at the end of the month for a week at RP. Something came up and we have to drop 2 days off the end of our vacation. I called the hotel to drop the 2 days and basically was told that I couldn't do it. The only way was to cancel the whole reservation and then rebook the dates we needed at a much higher price. I asked why we couldn't just keep our reservation and cancel the last two days and the agent said, "That's a very good question." I do a lot of traveling every year and have never run into this issue before. It's clear why they do it, but it's not very customer-friendly.

I agree. It is totally stupid. We've run into the same problem with it. You can try contacting the manager about it or emailing Loews directly but the people at the reservation hotline don't seem to be able to work around it.

 

[wdw4rfam]

I had the same issue. She told me that I had to cancel and rebook and then we would lose our promo code since it expired. We were book for 8 nights and decided to do 4 nights instead, and 5 nights at Disney So I cancelled and moved the entire trip to Disney for free dining. Now we are driving from Disney to universal for only 2 days, and we were trying to rebook for 4 nights/5days, so the lost money on us for having such a stupid policy.

 

[damo]

I had the same issue. She told me that I had to cancel and rebook and then we would lose our promo code since it expired. We were book for 8 nights and decided to do 4 nights instead, and 5 nights at Disney So I cancelled and moved the entire trip to Disney for free dining. Now we are driving from Disney to universal for only 2 days, and we were trying to rebook for 4 nights/5days, so the lost money on us for having such a stupid policy.

I hope you let Universal know -- not just the reservation people but the manager.

I can see it not being an issue for their business customers but for us families it is a huge issue.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I thought this was strange: We have a reservation at the end of the month for a week at RP. Something came up and we have to drop 2 days off the end of our vacation. I called the hotel to drop the 2 days and basically was told that I couldn't do it. The only way was to cancel the whole reservation and then rebook the dates we needed at a much higher price. I asked why we couldn't just keep our reservation and cancel the last two days and the agent said, "That's a very good question." I do a lot of traveling every year and have never run into this issue before. It's clear why they do it, but it's not very customer-friendly.

Is that because you don't qualify for the Stay More Play More rate because you dropped beneath the minimum nights required for that discount? (which I think is three nights)
That type of rate discount is pretty common at a lot of hotels in Orlando. You should be able to change the reservation though but at a higher rate. Did they not let you do that?

 

[Go Vols]

Is that because you don't qualify for the Stay More Play More rate because you dropped beneath the minimum nights required for that discount? (which I think is three nights) That type of rate discount is pretty common at a lot of hotels in Orlando. You should be able to change the reservation though but at a higher rate. Did they not let you do that?

This is most definitely the case...

 

[bjakmom]

Oh no I had no idea about this. I was going to call today to cancel my 5th night at PBR. I will get less of a room discount per day for 4 nights and I'm OK with that, but certainly dont want to loose my Platinum room upgrade. Wonder what would happen if I cancel the last night after check in since it won't be a 5 day cancellation? Ugh, never ever have I run into this at any hotel unless there was a minimum night requirement.

 

[Go Vols]

I had the same issue. She told me that I had to cancel and rebook and then we would lose our promo code since it expired. We were book for 8 nights and decided to do 4 nights instead, and 5 nights at Disney So I cancelled and moved the entire trip to Disney for free dining. Now we are driving from Disney to universal for only 2 days, and we were trying to rebook for 4 nights/5days, so the lost money on us for having such a stupid policy.

It seems to work like Disney's ticket system. Unless you stay 4 nights, the value is not there. However, purchasing one annual pass would have most likely solved your issue as you may have been able to obtain the APH rate.

 

[macraven]

Oh no I had no idea about this. I was going to call today to cancel my 5th night at PBR. I will get less of a room discount per day for 4 nights and I'm OK with that, but certainly dont want to loose my Platinum room upgrade. Wonder what would happen if I cancel the last night after check in since it won't be a 5 day cancellation? Ugh, never ever have I run into this at any hotel unless there was a minimum night requirement.

as long as you have 10 different booked stays for the year, you won't lose your platinum status.

if you have a 5 night stay booked, that will be 2 credits.
if you have a 4 night stay booked, that would be 1 credit.

for 5 nights or more, you get 2 credits on the YouFirst program.

only need 10 credits per year to hold your YF level.

 

[damo]

It seems to work like Disney's ticket system. Unless you stay 4 nights, the value is not there. However, purchasing one annual pass would have most likely solved your issue as you may have been able to obtain the APH rate.

When we had the issue we were booked with the APH rate but there were no rooms left at the APH rate. So if we dropped off a day they would cancel our whole reservation and rebook, but there were no APH rooms to rebook to....even though the ones we were hanging onto were still APH. It was just silly. Eventually some more APH rooms opened up and I made the change then.

 

[macraven]

When we had the issue we were booked with the APH rate but there were no rooms left at the APH rate. So if we dropped off a day they would cancel our whole reservation and rebook, but there were no APH rooms to rebook to....even though the ones we were hanging onto were still APH. It was just silly. Eventually some more APH rooms opened up and I made the change then.

i've gone thru that also damo but it turned out okay once it was settled.
2 years ago, i couldn't get all my nights (11) with the ap so i had 4 different reservations with different codes.
i had smsm for 4 nights, AAA for 1 night, the ap for 5 nights and then a 1 night ending with the AAA.

it stayed that way until i got a break and was able to switch completely to the Ap rate for the entire stay.
worked with a supervisor so i didn't have to cancel and rebook.
policy was more flexible back then.

yes, i had paid for 4 different deposits.
had a portion of my hotel bill paid in advance as i reequested no refund at the time of the switch.

 

[davedmaine]

It seems to work like Disney's ticket system. Unless you stay 4 nights, the value is not there. However, purchasing one annual pass would have most likely solved your issue as you may have been able to obtain the APH rate.

I do have an AP and had the APH rate on my original reservation. They said I would lose that rate because it was no longer available. I called again today and got the same song and dance - something about their system doesn't allow a person to just drop the days off the end of a reservation. I asked if it was possible to add days to a reservation and they said, 'of course.' Grrr..

 

[damo]

I do have an AP and had the APH rate on my original reservation. They said I would lose that rate because it was no longer available. I called again today and got the same song and dance - something about their system doesn't allow a person to just drop the days off the end of a reservation. I asked if it was possible to add days to a reservation and they said, 'of course.' Grrr..

Contact the hotel manager directly.

 

[Go Vols]

I do have an AP and had the APH rate on my original reservation. They said I would lose that rate because it was no longer available. I called again today and got the same song and dance - something about their system doesn't allow a person to just drop the days off the end of a reservation. I asked if it was possible to add days to a reservation and they said, 'of course.' Grrr..

That's ridiculous...they need to fix this issue. We travel often around the world and I have never heard of this happening.

 

[Bluer101]

I know it stinks but with changing rates, special discounts, and rooms available it has to be this way.

Here is Hotel policy and info.

https://www.universalorlando.com/Hotels/General-Information/Hotel-Services-Information.aspx

Down towards the bottom it reads,


Modification Policy:
Modifications to existing reservations are subject to availability at time of change.

Also if you book by phone as I always due they read you the whole disclaimer about ressie modification.

 

[davedmaine]

I know it stinks but with changing rates, special discounts, and rooms available it has to be this way.

Here is Hotel policy and info.

https://www.universalorlando.com/Hotels/General-Information/Hotel-Services-Information.aspx

Down towards the bottom it reads,


Modification Policy:
Modifications to existing reservations are subject to availability at time of change.

Also if you book by phone as I always due they read you the whole disclaimer about ressie modification.

Still, that doesn't make sense. I only wanted to drop 2 days off the end of my reservation, not make a new reservation. Obviously, the room was available because I already had it. So in this case, it doesn't need to be that way..

 

[Lewisc]

Still, that doesn't make sense. I only wanted to drop 2 days off the end of my reservation, not make a new reservation. Obviously, the room was available because I already had it. So in this case, it doesn't need to be that way..

I'm not trying to defend their policy. I'm not trying to say it makes complete sense.

Assume you cancel your entire reservation. Will your room be made available for booking at the APH rate? Are the bookings for your date strong? What rate will your room rent for if you cancel.

Sounds like they'll only allow a you to keep your reservation, and rate, if that rate category is available for new bookings.

That policy makes some sense but whats to stop a guest from booking 7 separate on night reservations instead of a week. Obviously it won't work for the say more rate but should work for APH.

 

[Bluer101]

Sounds like they'll only allow a you to keep your reservation, and rate, if that rate category is available for new bookings.

Yes.

This is why many of us keep checking rates to get the best deal. I have missed many rates because at night when i checked the rate was cheaper then get up in the morning and the cheap rate was gone.

I have 2 options book at higher rate or not go at all.

 

[damo]

I'm not trying to defend their policy. I'm not trying to say it makes complete sense.

Assume you cancel your entire reservation. Will your room be made available for booking at the APH rate? Are the bookings for your date strong? What rate will your room rent for if you cancel.

Sounds like they'll only allow a you to keep your reservation, and rate, if that rate category is available for new bookings.

That policy makes some sense but whats to stop a guest from booking 7 separate on night reservations instead of a week. Obviously it won't work for the say more rate but should work for APH.

You can do that but you'd have to be paying the whole thing in full then (since each reservation needs one night's deposit) and you wouldn't be guaranteed to be in the same room every night.

 

[puggymom]

I had something similar back in 2007 where I was trying to reduce the # of nights at HRH and they said I couldn't. I raised the issue up the flag pole and they put me up at PB at the # of nights I wanted but at the HRH rate I had booked (I think it was the AAA rate). Didn't make sense to me but I was happy to give PB a try at a lower rate then I would have paid for if I had booked PB originally.