From the department of dumb pricing systems...

[daveon]

We've decided we're going to go to the CES a day earlier. There's a Carrier sponsored developers day on the Wednesday that we need to attend. So I bit the bullet and swallowed the ticket change for the flights - which went up $50 while I was booking... then I called Expedia to change the booking for the hotel.

So... the guy puts in the change and comes back with, "that will be $227 for the first room. Is that ok?"

NO. No it is not fecking ok. That's more than we're paying for the next 3 nights!

So while we're discussing this I go onto Expedia and check the price for the 1 night in the hotel.

"I see that I can book that night for $70 on your website."
Expedia: "At the SAME hotel."
Me: Unless there's more than one XXXX Hotel in Vegas...
Expedia: clickity click.... (silence) oh. You're right
Me: Really?
Expedia: We'll just book another night then

I am left wondering how the booking system works and how many people get screwed by it.

Comments

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

"for the first room"

Did he mean "for the first night"?

Yeah - this sort of thing winds me up. I tend to avoid using services where the pricing is not clear.

[daveon.livejournal.com]

No, we had a booking for two rooms - so the impression was that this would be $227 per room per night for the extra night.

Nuts given we were paying $94 a night for the rest of the stay.

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

we've stopped using Expedia; they're rarely cheaper any more (compare on kayak.com), and the pre-pay is annoying and you don't earn points at the hotels if you're a pre-pay. given how crazy cheap the Vegas hotels are this year, it doesn't seem worth it (we're at the Riviera for around $80 a night).