"Best Rate Guarantee"

[Raven0215]

Hello,

Has anyone tried to take advantage of the best rate guarantee before? I booked a room at Portofino bay but Travelocity had a cheaper price. I originally called the reservation line but they said there is nothing they can do. I sent in all the information to them per the link on the website including screen shots of the rate etc and this was all within an hour of booking my room.

They don't seem to understand what to do just asking me if I want to cancel my reservation. I sent them the relevant information from the guarantee page including the exact instructions it provides to the hotel for matching the rates.


Best Rate Pledge at Loews Hotels


Each Loews Hotel offers an environment of thoughtful, customized comfort that makes every visitor feel special. Our commitment to our guests includes offering incredible value and our promise that they will receive the best rate available. If you find a lower rate on another website other than loewshotels.com within 24 hours of making your reservation, we will honor the lower rate and adjust your reservation accordingly.

Thanks,

 

[macraven]

the 3rd party sites probably aren't honored.


they aren't specifically a hotel site.


i don't understand your question i guess....


if you can book pbh cheaper on travelocity, why bother going thru Loews?
what you book with the 3rd party would take care of your onsite room.

you would receive the same hotel perks no matter how you booked your stay.


cancel your original booking and go with travelocity.

 

[macraven]

i have no idea how you can get loews to change your rate.

wish you the best on this.

 

[bumbershoot]

It's funny, because there's a link to the "best rate guarantee" right above the Book button, and that takes you to the pledge. But there's no link in the info about their pledge, not even where it says to click "here". Weird.


The T&C say that it's not for opaque sites, where you don't know the hotel until you've provided payment, but travelocity isn't like that. Of course, it also says that it's not limited to places like that.

Loews Best Rate Pledge applies to a "lower online rate" with rate restrictions that are substantially similar to the rate restrictions that can be booked on loewshotels.com. Rate restrictions include, but are not limited to, advance purchase requirements, prepayment and deposit requirements, and cancellation and change policies.

Does travelocity require full payment up front? That might be a problem if so.

 

[Fanboy]

In my experience with many of these "Best Rate" or price match policies, they are generally put up by the company as a show of "Look! Our prices are good!" They don't expect you to actually use the guarantee or to get them to follow their policy, it's just for looks.

I don't have experience with Loews, but I know from the hoops I've had to jump through and imaginary roadblocks to circumvent to get, say, Best Buy to price match in the past that these companies view financial transactions as a one-way street. Your money flows in, that's the policy.

As macraven suggested, cancel the Loews booking and go with Travelocity. Or just call them, tell them that Travelocity has a lower price and if they won't match it that you want to cancel the booking. They might find the policy applies after all.

 

[Raven0215]

the 3rd party sites probably aren't honored.


they aren't specifically a hotel site.


i don't understand your question i guess....


if you can book pbh cheaper on travelocity, why bother going thru Loews?
what you book with the 3rd party would take care of your onsite room.

you would receive the same hotel perks no matter how you booked your stay.


cancel your original booking and go with travelocity.

I would rather deal with the hotel directly if possible instead of having to go through a third party. I am not sure why you would have a best rate guarantee if 3rd party sites aren't honored that makes no sense. Besides they have the guarantee and they offer it and make it a key point in advertising so they should honor it. You would think that they would rather have the room booked directly through them for higher profits but I guess I don't manage a hotel so I wouldn't know. I don't mean to come off as testy but as Fanboy above stated most companies are very poor at honoring any type of price matching guarantee and it is unfortunate.

 

[macraven]

doesn't make sense for a hotel to advertise the guarantee and not fulfill it.

 

[Raven0215]

doesn't make sense for a hotel to advertise the guarantee and not fulfill it.

Well we will see what they end up doing I might try giving them a call again later today. I appreciate everyones feedback. I was originally going to book at Royal Pacific but they were all sold out of the 2 bed rooms last week. It appears they are back. If I can get the price matched for the Portofino bay it is only like 100 bucks difference between the Royal Pacific and Portofino bay but I get the bigger room at Portofino bay and the better view so that might be worth it. If I don't get the discount I think its closer to 250-300 difference and I don't think that is worth it.

I am going to have a 6 year old along so if anyone has any insight into which hotel would be better for him that would also strongly affect my decision

 

[macraven]

both hotels are fine for kids.

when you say wanting the 2 bedroom, do you mean two different rooms or suite or 2 beds in the room?


pbh rooms are larger than the rph.


what are your trip dates?

are you calling the hotel directly or going thru reservations?


have you contacted Loews directly yet?

 

[Raven0215]

both hotels are fine for kids.

when you say wanting the 2 bedroom, do you mean two different rooms or suite or 2 beds in the room?


pbh rooms are larger than the rph.


what are your trip dates?

are you calling the hotel directly or going thru reservations?


have you contacted Loews directly yet?

Sorry I meant 2 beds as in 2 queen beds. We are checking in on October 11th and checking out October 16th and moving to a Disney hotel. I was going to book this last Wednesday but was out of town and had to go over the specifics with my gf. When I went to book on Thursday the 2 bed rooms were all sold out at RPH so I called to see if they had any available and they said they just sold them all out for HHN. What was interesting is that those same rooms were available on Travelocity but for an inflated rate from what I had seen at loews. I noticed that the 2 queen bed rooms at PBH had a really good rate though.

If I call them and they won't match it I may end up just booking at RPH if they still have the 2 bed rooms available Not as nice of a room or view but I probably won't be in the room very much

I called reservations first and got denied the rate match, I have not called the hotel directly I was going to try that today. I received an e-mail from the hotel last Friday saying they didn't understand what the Best rate guarantee was. I sent them a copy of the information from the loews website but haven't received a reply from them yet. It says a specific person at the hotel has to approve it so that could be the hold-up.

Also we are actually getting in late on the 10th of October but staying at the Holiday inn that is near universal since I have a free night. It looks like that hotel might be within walking distance from what I can tell from google maps any idea if that is the case I would rather just walk over to the new hotel the next day if possible instead of getting a taxi or something.

 

[macraven]

i'll be at rph on the same dates you listed.

when i first booked in the winter, the standard rooms were available.
late feb, they were gone.

since late feb, it has appeared on the site and dissappeared.
the standard rooms are cheaper than the standard rooms with a view.


peeps book and cancel frequently.
when that happens, the rooms go back into the availability listing.
that is why you sometimes see them and other times receive the notice, no availability.

i always book early and just modify when the type of room becomes open and switch to it.

if you booked the view room, it will be higher in costs.
when you see it is available, call and have it modified to the cheaper room.

travel agencies will buy a large set of rooms.
if they can't sell them, they release them back to the hotel prior to the penalty deadline.
that way they are not stuck with the cost of those unbooked rooms.

when the travel agency releases the rooms back to the hotel, it will show up on the UO website as available.

i think it is about a 14-10 day period an agency needs to release the rooms back to loews.
i could be off on those dates though.

most peeps that know the system will check periodically online or call to see if they have rooms for their dates.

rooms don't sell out at the hotels until early september.
even then, if someone cancels 6 days out, they get a total refund.
and, you will see availability show up on the website for those canceled ressies.

yes, holiday inn, doubletree are near by.
you have about a 15 minute walk to the park from there.
maybe 20minutes at the most.

 

[Raven0215]

i'll be at rph on the same dates you listed.

when i first booked in the winter, the standard rooms were available.
late feb, they were gone.

since late feb, it has appeared on the site and dissappeared.
the standard rooms are cheaper than the standard rooms with a view.


peeps book and cancel frequently.
when that happens, the rooms go back into the availability listing.
that is why you sometimes see them and other times receive the notice, no availability.

i always book early and just modify when the type of room becomes open and switch to it.

if you booked the view room, it will be higher in costs.
when you see it is available, call and have it modified to the cheaper room.

travel agencies will buy a large set of rooms.
if they can't sell them, they release them back to the hotel prior to the penalty deadline.
that way they are not stuck with the cost of those unbooked rooms.

when the travel agency releases the rooms back to the hotel, it will show up on the UO website as available.

i think it is about a 14-10 day period an agency needs to release the rooms back to loews.
i could be off on those dates though.

most peeps that know the system will check periodically online or call to see if they have rooms for their dates.

rooms don't sell out at the hotels until early september.
even then, if someone cancels 6 days out, they get a total refund.
and, you will see availability show up on the website for those canceled ressies.

yes, holiday inn, doubletree are near by.
you have about a 15 minute walk to the park from there.
maybe 20minutes at the most.

Hello,

Called in and got routed to reservations again. The person I spoke to at first didn't really understand the best rate guarantee all they could tell me is that they don't match rates...... they were very helpful though and did get a manager involved. The manager basically explained that they don't match rates other than if you find a rate change on loews or one of the loews directly affiliated websites like booking on the universal website. Basically despite the very cleverly worded guarantee with such statements as "If you find a lower rate on another website other than loewshotels.com within 24 hours of making your reservation, we will honor the lower rate and adjust your reservation accordingly." they won't really match a price that isn't generated from their own booking system.

Since some of the 2 queen rooms at RPH opened up I had them switch my stay to that property for the savings. I feel that the best rate guarantee is deceiving but unfortunately as another had stated before this tends to be common practice in businesses. If Loews wanted to be more honest about the best rate guarantee they should just say that your free to have your reservation modified to a lower rate if you see one on our website between now and the time you check in which is essentially all the "best rate guarantee" it is doing.

I still look forward to staying and the RPH is the one I originally wanted to stay at so everything has worked out in the end.

 

[buckeev]

I know I spend WAY too much valuable time working on these trips, trying to maximize time & money, but sometimes, I just give up and go with the "flow".

You're gonna LOVE RPH! We've stayed at both it and HRH numerous times, and really have a hard time picking on over the other...absolutely beautiful hotel!

That Holiday Inn you asked about is really pretty close, an easy walk when it ain't 100 degrees!

 

[damo]

The Loews website says it won't match third party rates. Travelocity is a third party travel agency.

The Loews Best Rate Pledge does not apply to group, negotiated, non-published rate, package, third party Internet rates or rates requiring membership in a club such as AAA or AARP where rates are not intended for the general public.

 

[Raven0215]

The Loews website says it won't match third party rates. Travelocity is a third party travel agency.

The Loews Best Rate Pledge does not apply to group, negotiated, non-published rate, package, third party Internet rates or rates requiring membership in a club such as AAA or AARP where rates are not intended for the general public.

That is buried down deeper in the fine print and directly goes against what they post at the beginning of the best rate guarantee in a larger font

"If you find a lower rate on another website other than loewshotels.com within 24 hours of making your reservation, we will honor the lower rate and adjust your reservation accordingly."

Dishonest and false advertising at worst, but more like embellishment of the guarantee to make the consumer feel good about booking on the website.

I would ask then based on that statement above what DOES it actually apply to then other then there own rates? Nothing. The best rate guarantee is pretty useless in my mind due to the fact that they have such a liberal cancellation policy and you could always just cancel a higher priced reservation and make a new one.

Not sure why they even bother to call out specific websites they don't match based on the above statement but I am sure a lawyer got a hold of it.

 

[damo]

That is buried down deeper in the fine print and directly goes against what they post at the beginning of the best rate guarantee in a larger font

"If you find a lower rate on another website other than loewshotels.com within 24 hours of making your reservation, we will honor the lower rate and adjust your reservation accordingly."

Dishonest and false advertising at worst, but more like embellishment of the guarantee to make the consumer feel good about booking on the website.

I would ask then based on that statement above what DOES it actually apply to then other then there own rates? Nothing. The best rate guarantee is pretty useless in my mind due to the fact that they have such a liberal cancellation policy and you could always just cancel a higher priced reservation and make a new one.

Not sure why they even bother to call out specific websites they don't match based on the above statement but I am sure a lawyer got a hold of it.

I dunno. I just went here

http://www.loewshotels.com/aboutus/BestRatePledge

and read the page. The font all looks the same size to me.

You could try mentioning on their facebook page. Social media tends to get resolved a little more quickly.

 

[Raven0215]

I dunno. I just went here


and read the page. The font all looks the same size to me.

You could try mentioning on their facebook page. Social media tends to get resolved a little more quickly.

Must be the bolding of the parts I listed that gives the appearance of larger size font then.....more tricks!!!!!!

I don't care enough to make a crusade out of it, I have the hotel booked for the price I wanted for what I feel is a good value the express pass being the kicker. I have a feeling this is probably the only time it has ever been brought up since no one at loews seemed to know it existed till I pointed it out to them and the links embedded into the actual guarantee for filling out the form is non functional.

/rant

It is just a recurring theme with most businesses that offer a promotion like this for them to find a way out of it if possible. I don't understand why Loews would lose a direct booking to Travelocity if I decided to go that route I am sure they make more money having it paid directly to them I can't fathom a way that they would have made more profit off me booking through a third party since they probably sold the room to Travelocity at a steep discount since Travelocity has to build their own profit into it.

/rant off

Anyways I don't think there is anything else worthwhile that can be had from discussing the merits disclaimers. I appreciate all the feedback from everyone.

 

[bumbershoot]

The Loews website says it won't match third party rates. Travelocity is a third party travel agency.

The Loews Best Rate Pledge does not apply to group, negotiated, non-published rate, package, third party Internet rates or rates requiring membership in a club such as AAA or AARP where rates are not intended for the general public.

But that makes no sense, because it also talks specifically about opaque sites; so that seems to indicate that there are some other sites they WOULD allow.

But honestly I can't help but wonder if they have the IT people from Disney working on their site, and that it's just an old thing that doesn't happen anymore but they don't realize it's still on the site. What with the link to the form being nonexistent, and the fact that they don't tell you WHO to call.