Expedia trouble
 

Had a terrible experience booking hotel with Expedia. Booked 3 nights at Sandia Casino in Albuquerque in April. Made Reservation 3 months in advance because large powwow with 100,000 were coming to town. Had email itinerary confirmation from Expedia. Had another email giving me hotel confirmation# and lastly on Expedia website I could go to my account and it also confirmed I was booked. When I got to Hotel they had no record of me, I had brought all my emails with confirmation #s-hotel and I called Expedia and they said oops-we made a mistake-all Hotels were sold out and the only thing they could offer was a $100 oops coupon. They could not find me a hotel-the $100 voucher has to be used if I use them again sometime-do they think I am crazy? The confirmation # they gave me was for some other hotel and they did not even know whos it was..we ended finding our own room which was a nasty smoking room in an airport-very bad. It took several hours and it was their last room. The room I had booked was a mountain view casino room-what a nightmare for a vacation. Anyone else had trouble with Expedia??

I'm so sorry that you are going through this. We were in a very similar mess with Expedia in early April. I don't know how to top the thread - but if you search under my screen name - you will find the link to "Expedia has dropped the ball" and you may find some good advice. Best of luck and my condolences.

I was listening to an NPR discussion about the "Big" travel sites and several
of the guests commented that you can getter better deals (and accurate information) by calling your lodging destination directly. These large sites are for making money, and can be essentially a search for the highest paying customer in terms of chains/hotels with deep pockets,etc. Next time do more research for lodging in the area you wish to travel to, and contact the place directly. Try smaller travel sites that avoid advertisements. Sorry about your experience, according to the folks on this radio show, this all too common.

Millions of bookings a year are processed through these agencies and most have no problems.
In addition, it is possible that the rates at the big sites are the lowest and you cannot even get availability when you call direct.
Most of them have room blocks at hotels, so the hotel can be sold out and there will still be rooms available to the online agency.
I am sorry you had a problem. You certainly did everything you could, except call the hotel directly to reconfirm before you left.
3 months prior you cannot reconfirm at the property directly but a week or so before you leave you sure can.
Also, don't think that reservation errors are only made by the big online agencies.
In the hotel world, there are still many manual processes with reservations.
You don't see too many problems with the chains that have the best automation systems (like Marriott) but with most of the other chains and independants, errors are common.
In fact, I work in the industry and I still reconfirm every single hotel reservation at the property prior to arrival.
Last week it was determined that one of my bookings in NYC was cancelled at some point. Uh, wrong. Luckily there was availability and it was corrected.
That would have sucked because I did not want that coworker staying in my room! It was caught because I reconfirmed the data with the hotel prior to arrival.
Anyway, all I can say is that it happens all the time no matter how you book and you should always contact the property prior to arrival to avoid surprises when you check in.
In your case it would not have helped much... you just would have had more resources and time to search for another room.

If I have to book a hotel online, I usually book through the hotel website directly.

In my limited experience, I can usually get better rates directly than through middlemen like Expedia. I get the AAA rates.

There was a big to-do in the hotel industry recently - and is probably still going on - that whereas in the past when hotel reservations were booked through thousands of small travel agents, the hotels only had to pay the small travel agency 10%. Nowadays however these mega-agencies like Expedia have been demanding a discount of 25% or more for the hotel's "best" discounted rates. This 25% represented such a huge cut that some hotels were actually LOSING money by listing with Expeidia, etc. Thus, there has been a mad dash to set up their own websites and not be held hostage to the mega-agencies.

When I book directly, the hotel sends me a confirming email. It's hard for a hotel to deny their own confirmation.

Calling a hotel some time before arrival to confirm the reservation is always a good idea.

Also join the hotel's loyalty program, like the Hilton HHonors program. Hotel chains look favorably on those who are frequent guests.

Jeff7660: I'm sorry this happened to you! Hope your next vacation will be a much more pleasant one. The Sandia Casino hotel is beautiful, you made a good choice! :)

I think any hotel would match a lower rate that you find elsewhere, as long as there is availability. It makes sense to call and ask the hotel.

I have had hotels tell me that they don't have a particular kind of room available, then I've found it on Expedia or Orbitz. I don't know how that works; perhaps, part of the agreement is that the hotel gives them a block of rooms as others said.

When I have used Expedia, I called to confirm immediately after I made the reservation, and again, a few days before my trip. I normally book through the hotel though, and still confirm a few days prior to my arrival. I may overdo it - because of stories I've heard.

Sorry it happened Jeff.

Interesting. I followed my husbands instructions-searched for the lowest rate, something I never do for myself, as I am loyal to my HiltonHonors and Hampton. Hotel.com advertised the lowest rate. Made reservation for one room, one person online for next month. Printed receipt which read one room, two people Plus $15 Extra Person Fee and a Service Charge! Making the exact same reservation online with the Inn chain's res service advertising higher rates, guess what, it was less than hotel.com with the hidden fees. Plus the chain holds the room even for late arrival but does not charge credit card until arrival, Hotel.com charged immediately AND made a seperate service charge! I will never use anyof them Ever Again!

Again, you are the consumer. For some reason, Americans are hesitant to call the lodging directly and barter. I personally prefer to avoid chain and travel sites that cater to them because of the horror stories decribed above. Give me a friendly, honest non chain inn, motel or B&B any day. I am tired of the corporate maze rip-offs, anyway. There are sites out there that are dedicated to travelers who want to find a great place to stay without the ads, hype and flim flam. If you choose to stay at a "name hotel" call them directly and don't be afraid to remind them that you are the customer. Sorry again for your exoerience. Been there, done that. But like the last poster said, never again.

I've never had any luck "bartering" for a cheaper rate over the phone or in person - I always get the standard rate, at least with a chain hotel. Is there some secret code you're supposed to use?

I don't know if you can barter with chain hotels. I actually bartered once - ever - for a villa I was renting through a property manager in the Caribbean. I was planning to go in the low season and while talking to her, I said, "I see the villa is not reserved during a lot of the high season, and I would come sooner if you would give me the same rate," and she said she would. To this day, I don't know why I said it and I haven't done it since. It was about $1,000 less. I thought about it with the 1871 House in NYC thinking that if I got two rooms next to each other, a bargain might be had, but when I spoke with the mgr about price, I didn't get the vibe that she'd bargain, yet I should have at least asked I suppose.

I have heard so many horror stories about the big, online booking engines that I simply don't use them. I book directly with the travel providers. If you read Christopher Elliott's travel blog, you'll see many sad stories of Expedia or Travelocity or Orbitz royally screwing up people's vacations. (If you don't read his blog, you should: http://www.elliott.org/ - and no, I'm not a shill for him, I just think he's great!)

I have used Orbitz for hotels a few times, but ONLY when I can't book through the hotel itself. That happened in 2005 when trying to book a hotel in Budapest. Hotel's own website showed FULL for three days, but Orbitz had it and at a good price, so I went for it. No problems, room was available and all went off without a hitch.

I don't see any benefit to using Orbitz or Expedia except as I mention the rare cases where you can only book through them because the best rates or even availability is gone otherwise. And yes, if possible I'd always confirm with the hotel before arriving.

Every once in a while, I've found a significantly lower hotel rate on Expedia - BUT, I ALWAYS verify my reservation with the hotel confirmation number on the hotel's website or phone the hotel.

Use Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz to research rates/fares. Then check individual website for rate - if it is lower or the same book there.

I never reconfirm with hotel and have never had a problem. I know the odds are with me, but if and when it does happen that I have no room, I will be as angry as OP.

Interestingly, the 2 times I have had problem with hotel room were once when I booked by calling hotel (had some questions) - the previous guest just refused to move out as planned. And 22 years ago when we booked a Bahamas trip thru a travel agent and arrived on Thanksgiving Day, pregnant, hot, tired to find hotel full with no record of our reservation.