The other day, I wrote about booking a $13 USD night at the Grand Hyatt Berlin.
Today, I received an email from booking.com with an update on my reservation. Unfortunately, I was dreading this email since I sort of figured it was coming. With such a low price, I figured there was no way they would honor it. I was right.
Here’s what I find funny about this email. It says “please consider this officer.” Nowhere does it say they are canceling my reservation if I don’t accept, or that I must in fact pay the new 150 Euro rate. I replied back with my discontent, advising that I would only pay the rate at which I booked, which was for 10 Euros. I haven’t received a response back, however I’m going to give it a week and see what happens. If they don’t accept, the worst that happens is I loose a 10 USD room rate that probably was ridiculous to begin with, however was published. The new 150 EUR rate may in fact be reasonable for the hotel, however I remember seeing similar rates for the Ritz Carlton Berlin, which for me, includes all the added benefits of the American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts program. We’ll see what plays out here.
Does anyone have experience with this kind of reservation on booking.com? Do you think they’ll end up honoring the rate booked?
Jamie Larounis is an avid traveler, blogger and miles/points educator. Traveling well over 100,000 miles a year and staying in hotels for over 100 nights, he leverages miles, points and other deals to fly in first class cabins, and stay in 5-star hotels. The Forward Cabin shares his experiences, musings, reviews, tips, tricks, resources and industry news with you, the fellow traveler.
Booking.com is the worst! I booked a hotel once with them (wasn’t mistake fare), and they cancelled my reservation because the hotel requested a minimum stay. They tried to “accommodate” by booking me into a way cheaper room in a nearby city (20 minute drive). Horrible experience.
I find hotel mistake rates are honored far less often than airline mistake fares. I think you’re playing it the right way, responding to what their email says instead of what they probably mean. Best of luck!
Their saying is “booking dot yeah” but the email reads “booking dot nope”. Stand tall bro, you were able to book it and they should honor it. If I misquoted one of my clients I would need to honor the mistake and would do so without bringing it to their attention.