- Interesting data point from reader Mangoceviche saying they were able to churn the Avianca card. This goes against other previous data points. Keep in mind they were pre-selected for the 60,000 offer a second time.
- If you thought the Marriott Bonvoy rebranding was bad, check this out from Scotland tourism in 2007. They spent £125,000 to come up with a new slogan and the winner was ‘Welcome to Scotland’.
- Warby Parker Cybersecurity Attack Affects 198,000 Accounts by PYMNTS. That didn’t take long, first breach of 2019.
Starting to see some New York City hotels reach tipping point where the additional “resort fee” is approaching the room rate. $40/$51. Sad. Results in misleading advertising by hotels that is amplified by dishonest sites sharing non-existent deals.
— Extreme Hotel Deals (@ExtremeHotDeal) January 2, 2019
The solution to resort fees/destination fees is simple. If a charge is mandatory it should be listed in the first price consumers see. At the moment hotels are using resort fees to skirt pay commissions to online travel agencies. In addition when one property in area starts doing it then other properties are almost forced to follow their lead otherwise they look more expensive at first glance. I said this on Twitter but the hotel industry often talks about self regulation but it’s blatantly obvious that they aren’t capable of it.
Deals expiring at the end of today or starting today (view the full deal calendar here):
Deals expiring at end of tomorrow:
- [CPC Customers, Targeted] Chase Business Total Checking $750 In Branch Bonus
- [CT, DE, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT] Citizens Bank $200/$400 Checking Bonus + $100 Savings Bonus
- Safeway: Save on $15 When You Buy 2 $100 Visa Giftcards [Vons, Randall’s, Albertsons, Tom Thumb, Acme, Jewel, Shaw’s 11/28-12/4]
- Hilton Q1 2019 Promotion: 2,000 Points Per Stay Plus 10,000 Bonus Points Per 5 Stays/10 Nights
Just a heads up the Citizen’s Bank $400/$200 bonus expires 1/24, not today:
https://www.citizensbank.com/promotion/checking/cash-offer-500.aspx
Thanks
The more you learn about how businesses work the more you realize a lot of it is just a “scam”. Like every week there is an article about how X company said this but actually its Y (i.e. cheap hotels but resort fees, reward program enhancement but is a deval.).
This is why I’d never feel bad about bank bonuses and churning — the companies being “harmed” are doing the same thing to all of their customers.
I remember a few years ago when the Feds forced airlines to include all TAXES in their published prices. That seemed unfair, since it isn’t required of any other industries in the USA. But this resort fee thing is very different and now getting truly out of hand — especially since the price you first see on the travel booking sites doesn’t include it. And, as you note, it forces more reputable hotels to do the same thing to compete.
It would be nice if Congress acted to ban the practice, but what would prevent a state from enacting legislation. Like say New York bans the sale of hotels to its citizens where the price quoted does not include all mandatory fees? Wouldn’t that force hotels and the online travel agencies to change their policies for all sales? It would be a very good development.
Just in the past week, I declined to use my Marriott points at 2 different properties because one had a “destination charge” of $40 (it wasn’t a resort, just a regular urban hotel) and the other had a “resort fee” of $50. That’s crazy: it would be like United or American adding a random $150 surcharge to my award ticket. Would Congress allow that? I doubt it.
I strongly agree; when hotels charge a resort fee, destination fee, or any other garbage fee, that’s an immediate rejection of that hotel from my choices.
I’m at Waikiki Beach Marriott right now and my Resort fee is $37 + Resort fee GE Tax $1.74 but this is nothing compare with the $45 Valet parking /day charge plus the tip, those things are killing me lol.
Self regulation doesn’t work. That is the whole point of regulation. Gees I wouldn’t mind getting paid £125k to come up with ‘Welcome to Scotland’.
Resort fees. Ugh!!! While I enjoy being Hyatt Discoverist, the biggest perk IMO is no resort fees on award stays.
Thanks for the reminder on the Citizens Bank bonus!
I’m not surprised about the resort fees, and I completely agree with you. All the hotels in Grand Cayman for example charge sky-high fees. The Marriott Grand Cayman, where my travel companions and I stayed charged $50/night. They claim it’s to cover rental fees for the water activities and the bikes but it’s difficult to sign up for those in the first place 😪
Another interesting article, along the lines of a few others you’ve shared before:
The Men Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon – The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/01/men-peddling-secrets-getting-rich-amazon/578443/