Expedia Secret Saver Hotels

benedetto

I wanted people to be aware of what happened when I booked this.
I recently booked one night at a 3.5 star hotel near Brisbane Airport and it turned out that I was actually charged £1.19 more than Expedia's normal rate for the same room in that hotel.
When I complained they eventually refunded me the difference.
I am still arguing with them as they claim 'deep discounts, up to 40% off' by booking using their secret saver rate.
How can the exact same rate equal 'up to 40% discount'? Is this legal?

phatbear

benedetto wrote: »

I was actually charged £1.19 more than Expedia's normal rate
When I complained they eventually refunded me the difference.

You argued about £1.19? really?

benedetto wrote: »

How can the exact same rate equal 'up to 40% discount'? Is this legal?

The key words are "up to" which means it can be from 0% to 40% discount, its on par with using the word "from"

Mands

benedetto wrote: »

I wanted people to be aware of what happened when I booked this.
I recently booked one night at a 3.5 star hotel near Brisbane Airport and it turned out that I was actually charged £1.19 more than Expedia's normal rate for the same room in that hotel.
When I complained they eventually refunded me the difference.
I am still arguing with them as they claim 'deep discounts, up to 40% off' by booking using their secret saver rate.
How can the exact same rate equal 'up to 40% discount'? Is this legal?

Lastminute.com do the same, but with significantly higher markups.

I've seen multiple Secret hotels appear in listings next to the same hotel, undisguised, at a price that's 20% above the non-disguised rate.

Mands

johnmcga

As other posters have said, welcome to the confusing and not-always-as-much-of-a-bargain-as-you'd-hoped world of internet marketing and online travel firms.

I've booked top secret hotels with Lastminute.com many times, but my rules are to only book when:

- I'm confident I've worked out what the hotel is.
- The saving is significant over rates available elsewhere.
- I've checked the hotel's own rates, deals and offers.
- I'm confident my travel plans / dates won't be changing.

There are bargains to be had (or, more often, modest discounts to be had over standard rates). But unfortunately, a hotel being marketed as 'top secret' or similar doesn't mean it's automatically a good deal.

You still need to do some research and check the local market to see what non-top-secret hotels are available at similar prices.

It's totally legal and all covered by the small print. Sorry.

benedetto

phatbear wrote: »

You argued about £1.19? really?

No, I argued about being blatantly ripped off!

The key words are "up to" which means it can be from 0% to 40% discount, its on par with using the word "from"

In fact according to Expedia themselves "up to" means from 1% to 40% discount. QED

phatbear

benedetto wrote: »

In fact according to Expedia themselves "up to" means from 1% to 40% discount. QED

so you are worried about 1% and £1.19, life's really too short for such worries.

some questions though you say that you booked a secret hotel and then it came to light that the room would have been cheaper if you had not booked in their "deal" how do you know this did you go back on to expedia instantly and check the price, even then expedia use a dynamis pricing system which could mean that when you booked your hotel the price was different.

also, was the room fully cancel-able in both instance etc, for example you can book the same room with "free cancellation" and its more expensive than a non cancell-able room.

but really, as i previously stated, is it worth the hassle to chase this up?