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Old 09-30-2014, 02:52 PM   #81
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Just FYI carnival cruise just dropped rates down to 120 for 5 days, 210 for 7 days per person....
They have some decent cruises out of Jacksonville, Ft Lauderdale, NO, Texas, and Miami at those rates. We just cruised out of Miami at slightly lower rates on Carnival and it was surprisingly nice with great food.

A 7 night with taxes included would be closer to $650-700 for a 2 person cabin. Plus $80/person in required tips. Closer to $800 all-in for a couple.
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Old 09-30-2014, 03:59 PM   #82
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Actually, let me take another stab at it - we figure we'll own our RV for ten years (on year four at this point), use it 100 days a year (achieved so far in years one through three), and resell it at that point for $15,000 less than purchase price. 1,000 days of RV'ing divided by the $15,000 in depreciation would add $15.00 per night to our costs. I would put forth that that $15 is easily reabsorbed in daily savings on food, wine, entertainment and laundry. All can be done within our RV or RV park for significantly less than would be possible if in a hotel.

Our prior RV ended up averaging us $10 per night when this same analysis was done at point of sale. It was a less outfitted, less expensive RV than our current RV, hence the difference.

Again, though, to compare apples to apples, it seems to me you'd have to apply the same with regard to a passenger vehicle used during a road trip.
Awesome, you are definitely getting your money's worth out of your RV. Far from the norm I would assume. I'll bet my folks didn't use theirs a hundred days total out of the 10 years that they owned it...
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Old 09-30-2014, 04:22 PM   #83
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A 7 night with taxes included would be closer to $650-700 for a 2 person cabin. Plus $80/person in required tips. Closer to $800 all-in for a couple.
That's a reaaaaly cheap vacation! I suspect that's the minimum room rate (inside), which wouldn't bother me any. Gotta pay another $100 to park at the port, driving to the port, maybe a night in a hotel, but still, can't beat that price.

Just stay out of the casino and bar or your $125/day will double!!
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:01 PM   #84
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Not to derail this thread but I wanted to run something by the group.

I made two separate hotel reservations for next month using the ChoiceHotels.com website. One for two nights at a Sleep Inn & Suites in San Antonio and the other for two nights at a Comfort Suites in Dallas.

I used the "Advance Purchase" rate (non-refundable) primarily because of the very compelling statement on the web page that "Your rates won't get better than this".

Well, guess what? Two weeks later, both rates are lower - one by almost 40%.

So I email Choice customer service asking them to credit the difference because the rate DID get better, and the reply I get is basically "Sorry, our best rate guarantee doesn't apply to our own website". I respond that I'm not having an issue with their guarantee, that my issue is with the claim on their website that "Your rates won't get better than this". They respond that "Rates are subject to change; they might go up and they might go down. Sorry, but we won't be able to assist you any further".

I responded that by their own admission the claim is false and deceptive.

What would you do at this point?
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:06 PM   #85
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What would you do at this point?
You can try bad-mouthing them posting your version of events on Facebook, Twitter, etc. if you use those media. I've read that often gets results.

Other than that, I'd go ahead and take the trip and pay the rate I agreed to. And never, ever, use that hotel again and let them know why.
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:10 PM   #86
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You might also contact the consumer protection section of the Texas Attorney General's Office. Link here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov...complain.shtml
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:11 PM   #87
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What would you do at this point?
Re-book at the 40% lower rate with another credit card, then contest the charges with the credit card that had the original charges.

I've done something similar when a store wouldn't give me a credit for an item that had dropped in price. I bought a second one at the low price, then brought the second one back in with the receipt for the first one, hehe!

Actually, if this raises your BP at all, you're best bet is to just plaster your displeasure all over social media, then forget it. Life is too short for gnashing teeth on things like this. Too bad I do it ALL of the time!
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:14 PM   #88
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Re-book at the 40% lower rate with another credit card, then contest the charges with the credit card that had the original charges.
That's a good idea but read the fine print on your CC agreement carefully first. Sometimes the CC company will not allow a contested charge on an Internet purchase. We're not talking about a stolen/misused card here, the cardholder did initially authorize the purchase.
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:21 PM   #89
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You might also contact the consumer protection section of the Texas Attorney General's Office. Link here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov...complain.shtml
I think that is exactly what I will do. I sent an email to the CEO of Choice Hotels International (once I found out his name it was pretty easy to figure out what his email address was) and will give him a chance to respond.

It's only a matter of $75 or so to me but what irks me is that so many others may succumb to the same belief that locking themselves in at the current rate is the right thing to do because the website clearly states "Your rate won't get better than this".

And that is just wrong.
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:26 PM   #90
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Also, go up the chain. Write to the CEO - trust me he has an entire team handling this stuff.
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:26 PM   #91
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That's a reaaaaly cheap vacation! I suspect that's the minimum room rate (inside), which wouldn't bother me any. Gotta pay another $100 to park at the port, driving to the port, maybe a night in a hotel, but still, can't beat that price.

Just stay out of the casino and bar or your $125/day will double!!
We've been able to find much cheaper parking offsite away from the port even in Miami. $55 total for 7 nights for our last stay. It was less than that in Ft. Lauderdale. YMMV of course.

But yes, a very cheap vacation for what you get. I priced out all inclusive resorts in Mexico. More expensive than the cruise.

Even our off-season beach house rental here in NC ends up being close to the price of the cruise after you add in groceries and the occasional meal out. And that means we are cooking most meals at home!

Agreed on all the extra charges on the cruise. I started a thread at Cruise Critic forums on "does anyone else spend almost nothing extra on cruises". Many folks said that was dumb, partayyy!!!1 why go on a cruise if you aren't going to spend tons of money? We rarely spending anything extra beyond buying liquor at duty free prices (about half off). To each their own of course!

I took a look at Carnival Corp's annual report and the average expenditure per cabin is around $800+, which would exceed the price of this cruise. In other words, people do tend to spend a lot of money once on board. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It lets cruise lines price the basic fares much lower since they assume we'll drop more cash once on board.
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:31 PM   #92
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It's only a matter of $75 or so to me but what irks me is that so many others may succumb to the same belief that locking themselves in at the current rate is the right thing to do because the website clearly states "Your rate won't get better than this".
I usually take those offers to mean you can bring them the same rate elsewhere and they'll give you the better rate and whatever the percent difference is. But I assume once I make a non-refundable reservation and pay for it, I've committed at a given price.

I understand the misunderstanding, just saying I've never taken those guarantees to mean that my price is guaranteed in the future if the price drops (unless it says "future price guarantee" or something to that effect).
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:36 PM   #93
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I took a look at Carnival Corp's annual report and the average expenditure per cabin is around $800+, which would exceed the price of this cruise. In other words, people do tend to spend a lot of money once on board. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It lets cruise lines price the basic fares much lower since they assume we'll drop more cash once on board.
I have never cruised on Carnival, but on my most recent (river) cruise I spent €3.50 on a gin and tonic and on the previous one I didn't spend anything extra at all. I did prebook some tours, but that was part of the experience that I was looking for and was within my budget.
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:48 PM   #94
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Not to derail this thread but I wanted to run something by the group.

I made two separate hotel reservations for next month using the ChoiceHotels.com website. One for two nights at a Sleep Inn & Suites in San Antonio and the other for two nights at a Comfort Suites in Dallas.

I used the "Advance Purchase" rate (non-refundable) primarily because of the very compelling statement on the web page that "Your rates won't get better than this".

Well, guess what? Two weeks later, both rates are lower - one by almost 40%.

So I email Choice customer service asking them to credit the difference because the rate DID get better, and the reply I get is basically "Sorry, our best rate guarantee doesn't apply to our own website". I respond that I'm not having an issue with their guarantee, that my issue is with the claim on their website that "Your rates won't get better than this". They respond that "Rates are subject to change; they might go up and they might go down. Sorry, but we won't be able to assist you any further".

I responded that by their own admission the claim is false and deceptive.

What would you do at this point?
Maybe a non-CHOICE site now has lower rates too for those rooms. Maybe you can get the guarantee honored that way? Good luck.
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Old 09-30-2014, 10:00 PM   #95
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Well, guess what? Two weeks later, both rates are lower - one by almost 40%.
...
I responded that by their own admission the claim is false and deceptive.

What would you do at this point?

This:
Quote:
Originally Posted by FUEGO View Post
you can bring them the same rate elsewhere and they'll give you the better rate and whatever the percent difference is. But I assume once I make a non-refundable reservation and pay for it, I've committed at a given price.
Did you bother reading their terms and conditions? It's quite accessible and easy to find on their main homepage. Just look for the giant checkmark that says "Our best internet rate guarantee just got better"

Click on that large link and it will take you to here:
http://www.choicehotels.com/en/bestrate

Where they CLEARLY state:

Quote:
Just complete the Best Internet Rate Guarantee claim form within 24 hours of your booking and, subject to the Best Internet Rate Guarantee terms and conditions, the best rate plus a free night is yours*.
The guarantee applies to you finding another published rate on another website at a lower rate than what you can find on the choice hotels website. Pretty much every hotel website says this ("you won't find a lower published rate on any other website than ours"). And their guarantee CLEARLY states your claim must be submitted within 24 hours.

In other words, they aren't saying "our prices will only go up on our hotel rooms on our website from here on out, the prices will never go down, whether by sale or by new rate". Which obviously makes no sense - but is how you interpreted it.

You consciously made an agreement to pre-pay the hotel room to get that rate. If you thought it wasn't a good rate, you could have opted for the more expensive 'non-binding reservation rate', and hoped they had a sale (which is never guaranteed).

I don't see why so many people have a difficult time understanding this guarantee and sided with Looking4Ward.

While I love getting deals, and don't like unscrupulous business practices, I can't see how this was shady, or unethical, or wrong in any way on the part of the hotel chain.
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Old 09-30-2014, 10:18 PM   #96
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I responded that by their own admission the claim is false and deceptive.

What would you do at this point?
I see your point. The implication is that there will not be a lower rate, period.

If you are a regular or even semi-regular customer, you might get them to change their mind if you can get past customer no-service.

Otherwise, don't do business with them again. There are plenty of hotels in this world.

And thank you for warning us to this potential problem. That alone may cost them more than the extra dollars they extract from you.

Apply Hanlon's razor - Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
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Old 09-30-2014, 10:39 PM   #97
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I don't see why so many people have a difficult time understanding this guarantee and sided with Looking4Ward.

While I love getting deals, and don't like unscrupulous business practices, I can't see how this was shady, or unethical, or wrong in any way on the part of the hotel chain.
I am not referring to the "Guaranteed Lowest Rate" policy. I'm fully aware of and understand those terms and conditions.

What I am referring to are the words "Your rates won't get better than this" that are prominently displayed directly above the rates shown when you click on the "Rates" page.

Example:



I also understand that rates fluctuate. That claim, however, implies that possibility is mitigated if one books the rates shown immediately.

How else would a reasonable person interpret that statement?

.
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Old 09-30-2014, 10:47 PM   #98
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Oh!

"Your rates won't get better than this"

Somebody else's rates might get better, but not yours! No better rates for you! English is an evil language in the hands of lawyers.
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Old 09-30-2014, 11:00 PM   #99
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Oh!

"Your rates won't get better than this"

Somebody else's rates might get better, but not yours! No better rates for you! English is an evil language in the hands of lawyers.
LOL! So true.

Anyway, guess what my two trip reports next month will be about?
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Old 10-01-2014, 07:32 AM   #100
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Awesome, you are definitely getting your money's worth out of your RV. Far from the norm I would assume. I'll bet my folks didn't use theirs a hundred days total out of the 10 years that they owned it...
Yes, get this. DH insisted we run the per-day cost numbers prior to purchasing RV number two, and now it has become a game to ensure we hit our target usage each year.

Conversely, have RV'd alongside rigs we know darn well are costing the owners hundreds, if not thousands, a day to use given cost vs usage vs resale. And yes, to beat you to the punch, wonder why they don't just stay at an upscale resort instead, which would surely be cheaper.
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