New You First Program UPDATE

[Tizzy_Meliss]

I called Loews YouFirst customer service to ask about the SS rates and AAA rates if they qualify, she has no idea, but she is sending an email to corporate and they will email me back with the answer.

I hope SS rate qualifies, that is what I booked for November.

 

[coastergirls]

I am totally confused. I have logged on and I cannot find anywhere what status i am .Also despite phoning loews no and being put through to reservations it does not show my res for September. AFter my trip in September I would have stayed 7 nights . I would have had 2 qualified stays within 12 months. Does this mean I will be a blue member. What happens about your welcome gift. Sorry to be a pain.

 

[Subi WRX]

I called Loews YouFirst customer service to ask about the SS rates and AAA rates if they qualify, she has no idea, but she is sending an email to corporate and they will email me back with the answer.

I hope SS rate qualifies, that is what I booked for November.

Could you please post here when you hear about the super saver rate? we have the ss rate booked for october and do have our suite upgrade, but i would be disappointed if we didn't qualify. thank you.

 

[Catrinabeach]

I just booked the SS rate for Aug 26th - 31st and was told it qualifies. If I had booked APH it did not. So I went with SS and actually saved money since it doesn't have a rate change during our stay but the APH did.

 

[Catrinabeach]

I just received this email response from an email I sent.

Dear Cathy,

We apologize for the delay in responding to your e-mail inquiry on July 19, 2008. Your current YouFirst membership status is at the Platinum level. For a complete description of all of the benefits you will enjoy, please visit us online at www.loewshotels.com/youfirst.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Sincerely,

Your Friends at Loews Hotels

 

[Tizzy_Meliss]

Could you please post here when you hear about the super saver rate? we have the ss rate booked for october and do have our suite upgrade, but i would be disappointed if we didn't qualify. thank you.

I sure will. I was told when I booked my rate I would qualify, which is why I booked it, but this came from the same lady who told me I only needed to stay once a year to maintain my platinum status. We all know how acurate that info was.

 

[macraven]

I just booked the SS rate for Aug 26th - 31st and was told it qualifies. If I had booked APH it did not. So I went with SS and actually saved money since it doesn't have a rate change during our stay but the APH did.

loews youfirst website:


YouFirst benefits and points awards are based on completion of a qualifying stay at any Loews branded Hotel. A qualifying stay is one at any standard rate published by the hotel. Group, volume corporate and consortia rates do qualify under the terms of the YouFirst Program. Third party, government, Universal Passholder and Universal Florida resident rates do not qualify, nor do rates through any other discount program, coupon, complimentary or promotional offer.


the super saver rate is done by the hotel for a benefit for saving money for guests.

loews is not advertising the SS rate as a promo for their program but the universal is. SS is not a standard rate.

i think the way it is worded will confuse many.
i believe that the SS rate is not considered under the rack rate which is for a qualifying stay.

unless you have something from loews from corporate headquarters, i would be concerned on how the ss rate will effect your qualifying stay.

i would be interested in how corporate defines the SS rate.

 

[macraven]

cathy, just a suggestion for you in case push goes to shove on your ss as a qualifying rate.

always write down the name of the person, number you called, date and time you were given "confirming" information.

you won't have a leg to stand on to fight it if you can't back up your statement.

loews should be responsible for what information their employees give out.

 

[Tizzy_Meliss]

See now I thought that if you go online and plug in your dates without searching for a specific rate (AAA, APH, AARP, Government, ect) that rate (Seasonal and Super Savings) would qualify. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

If it doesn't qualify, guess DH and I are going to Philly for an overnight trip.

 

[damo]

See now I thought that if you go online and plug in your dates without searching for a specific rate (AAA, APH, AARP, Government, ect) that rate (Seasonal and Super Savings) would qualify. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

If it doesn't qualify, guess DH and I are going to Philly for an overnight trip.

My impression was that if a rate came up without you putting in any codes, it was a qualifying rate.

 

[yourgoingagain?]

I recieved an e-mail from loews in which they stated that AAA would be a qualifying rate.

 

[Tizzy_Meliss]

I received the email today and here is what was written:

Dear Mrs. .........,



Thanks very much for your recent inquiry regarding your upcoming stay. I’m happy to inform you that AAA rates do qualify for YouFirst credit. Please just ensure that your YouFirst number is associated with your reservation so that we can award your credit. If you are unsure, please call our Reservations line at 1-800-563-9711 and they can assist you.


Thanks and we look forward to seeing you soon!
Your Friends at Loews Hotels

As you can see they didn't answer the question I asked about the Super Savings rate. I did reply and ask them about that, but usually they don't answer replies so I guess I will have to call again today.

Call the reservation line for assistance, yeah right, I did that and they have no idea what the heck is going on.

 

[Subi WRX]

I received the email today and here is what was written:


As you can see they didn't answer the question I asked about the Super Savings rate. I did reply and ask them about that, but usually they don't answer replies so I guess I will have to call again today.

Call the reservation line for assistance, yeah right, I did that and they have no idea what the heck is going on.

Ugggggg. How frustrating!

 

[damo]

I think a lot of the problems are stemming from the fact that the Universal Hotels seem to be run in a different group than the reset of the Loews hotels. There is even a different booking website for them. I don't even see supersaver rates available for any of the other hotels. We need to find an email for someone in charge of the Universal Loews hotels to get these rates straight.

When you try to book a non-Universal hotel, a rate comes up. If you click on more info, it tells you if the rate is qualifying or not. This is not the case with the Universal hotels.

 

[goofy!]

Damo is correct. Universal is completely different than the other Loews properties. That is why Loews reservations does not even book them and you are forwarded to Universal reservations.

For somebody on property, you can always try Juanita at the Portofino. She has always been very prompt and very knowledgeable in clarifying any of our questions about the LoewsFirst rates when Universal Reservations gave us bizarre answers. Hopefully, management would know what rates were and were not qualifying with the Universal Hotels and the new YouFirst program.

Juanita Paguirigan
Administrative Asst to the Executive Assistant Manager
Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando
5601 Universal Boulevard
Orlando, FL 32819
jpaguirigan@loewshotels.com

 

[Tizzy_Meliss]

Thanks Goofy, I'll give her a try too!

 

[Tizzy_Meliss]

I heard back from the email I sent off to the person Goofy posted. Although I heard back from someone different. I'm guessing she passed it along to her.

Thank you for your interest in choosing Loews Hotels. I have read through your letter and would like to inform you of the following. The Super Saving rate that is confirmed is Loews Qualifying, therefore you have been upgraded to a 1 bed room portofino suite. This suite has 2 units,one room is a parlor and connecting to that is a bed room with 2 queen beds. The reservation is all set under the confirmation given. Thank You for choosing Loews Hotels.

Carolynn Grep
Assistant Reservations ManagerLoews Hotels at Universal Orlando

I also heard back from the original email the customer rep sent off, that came back and only replied to half of my question. This was that response:

Thank you for providing the additional information I requested. I will get back to you when we have been able to locate this reservation and confirm that it is a qualifying stay. Please allow up to 5 business days for us to perform this research – you are correct, things are busy!


Thanks so much for your patience, and we truly do look forward to your upcoming visit.

The research is to see if my stay qualifies, so I am guessing it will qualify since that is what the Assistant Reservations Manager Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando, said. I have to say both emails were prompt and neither were the standard form letter, so I am very happy about that. I made mention in the second email about how I bet they are busy answering questions from people not understanding the new Loews program and sounds like they are.

 

[macraven]

ok, got another email back that is close to a form letter but not a form letter.
but, yes another but, it never answered my questions.
just acknowledges that i am platinum and refers me to the loews website.

this is it:


Dear Raven,

We apologize for the delay in replying to your e-mail inquiry on July 18, 2008. Upon researching your account, we see you are currently listed at the Platinum level. For a complete description of the benefits you will receive in the YouFirst program, please visit us online at www.loewshotels.com/youfirst.

Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,

Your Friends at Loews Hotels



the return email address is coming out of waukesha wisconsin....
well, i'll be.

i could drive to that town within 30 minutes.
now, if i only had the address........snail one, not email address.....


looks like that old email i sent was read but never really answered.

sent that email on july 18 and answered july 30, kind of answered...

 

[Subi WRX]

Thank you, Tizzy. I am glad that the SS rate qualifies. Thanks for letting us all know.

 

[Tizzy_Meliss]

Happy to help. I'm glad is qualifies too. Guess I should have known it qualified since they upgraded me in the first place.