AAA Rate Switch at "Checkout"

[smokeyblue]

I found a great rate for a suite in Milwaukee this weekend. The AAA website said $99/night. Well we clicked the book button, it came up as $99/night but it said rate "may be more". Thinking that we would have a chance to find out what this rate might be we clicked the submit button. Nope, that was it, the room was booked at $125, and no it wasn't tax or fees or anything. It's already within 24 hours so we would have to forfit one nights rate to cancel, so that a no go!

AAA was closed for the night. I called the hotel and they said yes, that we were booked at $99 for Friday and $125 for Saturday. Yes, $25 isn't that much, but we could have got a "lesser" hotel for $80/night. We were willing to spend $99 for this hotel because it has a full fridge; we are doing major food shopping since we live in a rural area. However we didn't want to spend more than $99/night and we would have sacrificed the big fridge if we couldn't keep the rate below $100.

So do I let it go? Sometimes things don't go your way. Or should I complain to AAA when we get back? It wasn't the hotels fault. I just think the AAA site should have told me upfront that the second day would be $125. I mean what if the Saturday rate was like $225/night and they didn't let me know and just booked it. I would have been through the roof! It also was certainly not user error, I studied every booking site for hours before we choose this lising.

I'm certainly not going to let this ruin our trip though! I get to go to Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, a spice store, Aldi's to stock up the pantry.

 

[Justsyd2]

I would give AAA a call when you get back. It is pretty standard for Saturday night hotel rates to be more than other days, so I don't know how far you'll get with that, especially with the "rate may be more" disclaimer, but you can try!

 

[Hannathy]

You could try calling your credit card that you used. They often have a lot more leverage than you do and can cancel transactions.

 

[ssawka]

I'm assuming this was a last minute decision to go, otherwise why did you wait so long to make a reservation? Also, for last minute reservations, you're often better off calling the hotel. Even when I'm booking trhough AAA, I usually call the hotel to verify their cancellation policy. You know, to get it from the horse's mouth.

Have you tried calling the hotel and explaining the situation? Although you were within 24 hrs from check-in, you were not within 24 hrs of Saturday night, so you could have cancelled Saturday and not Friday.

 

[DawnM]

You can try to fight it, but if the website said it may be more then they did give fair warning.

I have had similar things happen before.....there isn't much you can do about it.

Dawn

 

[smokeyblue]

I'm going to call AAA on Monday or maybe an email. However I'm not going to demand or request a refund. I would have like to known before I was charged; like I said what if the second day was much much more and not $25. But, it's a super nice hotel and we are going to have a good time if my boyfriend ever gets his stuff together so we can leave!!!! When it looks too good to be true it usually is!

 

[maggiew]

Did you book on the AAA website directly? I am not sure how that works. But I usually use Marriotts. And on there, it shows the $99 price or whatever but then in small font underneath it will say "This rate will change to $125 on mm/dd/yyyy". It is hard to see if you aren't looking for it.

This is on the page that lists out all the rates, not the final page before confirmation. On that page, it usually lists out the days separately IF there is a rate change during the stay.

Maggie

 

[horseshowmom]

I would give AAA a call when you get back. It is pretty standard for Saturday night hotel rates to be more than other days, so I don't know how far you'll get with that, especially with the "rate may be more" disclaimer, but you can try!

I'm going to call AAA on Monday or maybe an email. However I'm not going to demand or request a refund. I would have like to known before I was charged; like I said what if the second day was much much more and not $25. But, it's a super nice hotel and we are going to have a good time if my boyfriend ever gets his stuff together so we can leave!!!! When it looks too good to be true it usually is!

The disclaimer said "rate MAY be more". How are you supposed to know before you book (if I understand you correctly, it didn't show you the rate before it booked it)? I use AAA a lot, but I usually go through the hotel's own site so I've never had this happen before. I would definitely complain.

 

[bettymae1121]

I'm a travel agent.

That's pretty common when the rate isn't the same for all the nights of your stay. The lower rate shows in the system (or in this case, online) but when you dig deeper you find the higher rates for some of the other nights. I hate it too but I've learned never to quote a client a rate until I've made sure of the price.

Still, if it never told you exactly what the higher rate for the 2nd night was before you committed to it, you may have grounds for a complaint. It won't hurt to call AAA and see what they say.

 

[3boymthr]

I've gotten the rate may be more thing before too, but usually I'm tagged for the extra person in the room (5 people instead of 4 usually costs an extra $10) and can see the extra charge for the second night.

I'd definitely be annoyed and would definitely call.