My husband is in L.A. for the week for work. His first 3 nights in town he had to find his own hotel room, his company pays for it but he still had to find it. I went online and found a place near the airport for about $100.00. He liked the hotel and decided to spend all three nights there. Well this morning he checked out and the room, after the first night the room went from $100.00 to $189.00 for the last two nights! This was never mentioned to him when he checked in though I haven't a doubt that this was written in his paperwork that he signed. It was three week nights in a row -- if there had been a weekend night, maybe then I could see the price change but it wasn't.

I'm going to have his write a letter of complaint and maybe he'll get a little of his money back (though truthfully I'm not expecting that either). I figure that maybe we'll just chalk this up to life experience.

Does anyone know if this is common? With his new job he will be traveling just about every other month and it would be good to know! Of courses after this experience he probably will ask from here on out.

Yep...the rates can change daily, hourly even...but not after you have a reservation for a specific rate.

Does he have the confirmation showing the three nights, and that they all cost $100 each night? Maybe I'm not understanding what happened exactly. They can't raise the rates after he went into an agreement/reservation with them, for three nights at $100. When you made the reservation, did you inquire about the rates for all three nights? Even in a row, all nights are not necessarily the same price.

It sounds like maybe you made the reservation for one night and it was $100. He decided he was going to stay, so he extended his stay two more nights, not realizing that the rate was going to be different and they didn't tell him either (not sure if they're obligated).

If he's going to be traveling a lot, he should join any/all hotel points programs. Since my DH travels so much, we hardly ever pay for a hotel room when we travel for pleasure due to all his points. So that's a great perk.

He can also try to ask if there are any 'out of service' rooms for a better rate. Those are rooms that are under repair for some reason. Whatever is wrong, might not bother you and you can get the room for a song. My sister wanted to stay at the same hotel I was staying at in Boston one time, we asked for an out of service room and they had one...it was a room that had not been updated by their decorators. There was nothing wrong with it at all.

Something else that works sometimes, at least with the big chains (Hilton, Marriot, Sheraton) is to request a King Size bed. Then...when they don't have one when you check in, they'll often upgrade you to a better room to soften the sting of no king bed. LOL Seems bizarre but I've been upgraded many times due to that!

Many hotels that cater to business clients (like ones near airports) charge more for weekdays, when they have business travelers, and less on weekends. The ones around here often have weekend package deals to book rooms, as they have no trouble booking during the week w/ business travelers.

Ya, I was just trying to get him a room for the night and he decided to stay. Never even crossed his mind to inquire about a price change. I can't blame him because I didn't think of it either.

Thanks for the advice. I have a couple more questions! Which hotels do you use to get more "points"? I've received a few offers in the mail but always figured we'd never come up with enough to actually earn anything! Are there some programs, in your opinion, that seem to work better than others?

Out-of-service rooms! Never heard of them. But I will keep them in mind. When you call for a reservation do you just ask?

We're pretty new him traveling this often. And my husband is really bad about leaving the details to me. That night I booked him in that first hotel, he had called me from his layover in Arizona and asked me to get him a room. Why he didn't do this before he left is beyond me. He did at least on the sense enough to arrange for his car! At least I wasn't doing that.

Thanks for the help!

Keep in mind that if you do an out-of-service room, or even to get the best rate, you are much better off talking directly to the hotel than the reservation service at an offsite 1-800 center.

__________________
Make someone's heart smile today.

I don't know if one is really better than others...they're all pretty much the same. I think there is one that advertises, after 5 stays, you get a free night...but darn it, if I can't remember which one it is! LOL! IIRC, it's free to join any of the points programs. So even if he doesn't stay enough to get free rooms, it's not like you're out anything. You can just go to all the hotel websites and sign up online.

If it's something he's interested in doing, he'll need to ask for "out of service" rooms or upgrades at the front desk at check in...that's not something you can do on the reservation line.

My Dh doesn't usually shop around for prices because his company pays all his travel expenses and his team usually all stays at the same hotel. You can search online for good deals, and often, calling the hotel directly can get you some good deals. Just ask if they have any specials going on...

Good luck!

Oh and I wanted to add, the points programs with hotels are NOT credit cards. I'm not sure what you mean about 'offers' coming in the mail in regards to hotel points programs...maybe credit card offers?

I was referring to the programs, that are directly thru the hotels. It's free, and your stays count towards 'points' for free stays. Off the top of my head, some of the major chains...

Starwood Properties (Westin, W, St Regis Hotels, Sheraton etc) you can sign up for their program here:

Starwood Preferred Guest - Hotel Offers and Loyalty Program spg.com

Marriot Properties (Marriot, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn etc)

https://www.marriott.com/rewards/cre...ccountPage1.mi

Hilton Properties (Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton etc)

https://secure.hilton.com/en/hi/sign...s_enroll.jhtml

Hyatt Properties (Hyatt, Summerfield Suites etc)

Hyatt Gold Passport - Hyatt Hotels and Resorts

Then there are also some of the less expensive ones, Holiday Inn, Best Western etc - they also have point programs.

He can also join the airline points programs towards free tickets (not a credit card, just thru each carrier)...again, we use that with great regularity for pleasure travel! But my Dh does travel each week, so it adds up quickly for us.

There are indeed credit cards that go towards points, so if he's traveling a lot and that's something you're interested in, check out the offers online, do your research and see if it's worthwhile for you.

Dang! He's at the Renaissance in Hollywood right now! And he usually ends up staying that the Hilton everytime he goes to the airport since he usually leaves early and comes back late.

I did get a credit card with airmiles -- most of his travel is put on our credit card and then they pay us back when he returns. But I need to start looking into these hotel points. I suspect his travel is only going to grow and grow.