You have my pity.
Personally I think the airlines screw themselves with this policy. Yes, there are business travelers that will pay any rate, but there are undoubtedly a great number of personal travelers and prudent business travelers who simply won’t fly within 3 weeks of the departure date. And corporations are tightening their belts more and more. I work for a Fortune 100 company and we have a 21-day booking policy or you’ll have to answer to the grumpy old lady who monitors our t&e budget.
I think airlines should encourage people to fly at the last minute by tiering DOWN the costs down (a “clearance” rate if you will). The business travelers would not want to risk being squeezed out by the last minute bargain hunters so they’d still book 2 weeks in advance and the planes would probably end up flying more passengers.
As far as the 4 star hotels, yeah their pricing stinks. What I can’t stand is that the local government sees my presence in their fair city as a license to steal. The “rate” is $85, which sounds reasonable until you add in the pillow tax and the bed tax and the parking fee, and then the freaking oxygen recovery tax because you’re breathing in their precious air. By the time all’s said and done, what seems like a reasonable rate isn’t so reasonable any more.
You may very well know something I do not, but for the business I run and others I know, qw do pay a flat rate per month for local calls similar to residences, albeit a higher rate.
The rate of $13 is about what it costs for parking for the day in Calgary at a parking lot. If you leave within a couple of hours you may be able to get a couple of bucks back. There are no in and out privilages. You pay every time you park. The hotel probably doesn’t own the lot and has to pay those charges and passes them back onto you. Which is the main reason I don’t park downtown. I just take the train in when I go there.
I don’t know about you, but I insist on flying within three weeks of the departure date.
I hate waiting in the airline terminal for a month.
(Though that Iranian guy in Charles de Gaulle was good company.)
Out in California last year during the (Enron-influenced) “energy crisis,” many hotels were charging an additional fee of about $1.50-$2 a day to cover “the higher cost of electricity.” I found that charge on my bill on a trip to San Diego.
I think what bernse’s more burnt up about is the nickel-and-dime nature of the whole thing. I mean, in the case I cited, it seemed extremely ticky-tack to put a separate charge of $2 for electricity charges on the bill. I didn’t pay that much in per diem electricity for my whole apartment, replete with fridge, fan and other power-hungry appliances. On the bill, that $2 charge just looked…desperate, I guess. I almost would have preferred that they’d just added $2 to the room rates.
That’s nothin. We charge 2.75 for a coke and it’s a 10-oz bottle. But then in my bar we have complementary orderves (sp) that are top quality and items from the bar menu are prepared by top chiefs from the CIA and Johnson & Whales.
I think that there are people who want top quality, and are willing to shell out for it. (Weather its there money or not).
An example: You go into a bar across town (I won’t name names) and you get a drink (at least that’s what they call it) made by an untrained, uncivilized, unprofessional using liquor that comes out of plastic bottles. You come into my bar, and you get a drink made like it should (or even better) and a bartender that knows how to be a bartender. You will truly be my guest in my bar. Of course you’re also paying $10 for a premium martini $5.25 for a beer. But you ask anyone who knows and they’ll tell you that $95 for 1 1/2-oz shot of Louis XIII is a good deal.
I ain’t paying for other people to get drunk on my dollar. No sir.
$50-$80? For a 3 star hotel? The Super 8 motel charges $65 for their crappy rooms. Where are you getting a hotel for that? I need to talk to you the next time I travel.
But, yeah. I’ve stayed in about a gazillion hotels, both for business and pleasure, and a lot of them gouge you like that. One that really pissed me off lately was the Hilton. They advertised having an “indoor water park”. Now, if you’ve been to some of the Indoor Waterparks I’ve been to, you know what a blast they are. So over Valentines Day weekend my wife and I rented a room.
Only to find out that their stupid indoor waterpark would bore an 8 year old!:mad: This on top of the $4.00 Diet Pepsi and $12 hamburger! Grrrrr! I wouldn’t be so mad if one of my clients were paying for it!
bernse - you HAVE to tell me where you were staying - the Palisar? The Marriott?
Dish man, dish - I’m dying here!
P.S. - Sorry I missed you for lunch - I was sick as a dog. It was gross - trust me - you wouldn’t have appreciated the germs.
Next time.
Well, yes, but real bargain hunters know that after a week they’ll offer any rate just to get you to leave.
Erm, as I’m one of the owners of the company, I fear you’re confused.
That key phrase again “As I tend to travel for client business, and recharge my travel expenses”. For some reason I find it very difficult to feel that concerned about charging an overpriced laundry charge to a hideously rich oil company. As they keep hiring us, they don’t seem that concerned either.
But I am sorry that my participating in this cycle means other people paying their own way get stiffed.
That’s true, although some might argue that it’s also not your place to knowingly help them commit fraud.
"…items from the bar menu are prepared by top chiefs from the CIA and Johnson & Whales."
I’m really hoping this is a reference to something like the Culinary Institute of America. Otherwise I’d feel better if accompanied by a drink taster.
Not if it’s going to cost me $5. 
We’ll leave the light on fer ye.
Right the first time!
“Nice” place, although there were water stains on the wall and ceiling and paint was peeling in the washrooms (we stayed in 2 rooms, both washrooms were in similar conidition). The rooms themselves were nice and clean albeit on the small side. I just thought since it was a 100 year old hotel that it was somewhat to be expected.
Actually, since we were stuck over Saturday (we were to fly back Sat PM except the weather disagreed) I bought take out for both of us at that Thai place on Stevenson across from The Bay.
Very, very good stuff. I was pretty impressed.
You’re probably right as the more I think of it they’re almost certainly closer to 2 star than 3. But! You can still talk to me before you travel if you like.
In my case, for 6 years (1993-99) my “business travel” expenses were on the Commonwealth’s dime. Were I to pad that account with anything more than lodging (at government rate) and food, I’d be prosecuted. These days I write off expenses as a “consultant” – but it’s my own money up front and I’d hate to have something disallowed at an audit.
I guess I’m just uptight about socking it to someone else just because it was socked to me. So it’s a mid-level chain for me, as long as it’s within easy transportation to the meeting site.
So I guess you don’t do any of the following:
(1) Go to an all-inclusive resort where the drinks are included (the price of others’ drinks is included in your ticket price);
(2) Work for a company that hosts employee events that serve free alcohol to employees and guests (you pay for others’ drinks through lower wages or salary); or
(3) Fly on airlines that offer free drinks to passengers (although this is relatively rare these days) (higher ticket prices again).
And these are just the most obvious examples.
I’m confused.
I have stayed in hotels from LA to Alaska to Washington DC to Vegas to various towns in Europe. Some were two and three star others were four.
I have NEVER seen a hotel that doesn’t charge for phone calls.
Is there really such an animal?
Well, I probably stay in a hotel, oh, 8 or 10 times per year. Usually “Holiday Inn” category/class hotels. The odd time (such as last weekend) I’ll stay in an upscale, fashionable hotel or resort.
Virtually, almost without exception, in every mid-range hotel the local and 800 calls are free in addition to other “complimentory” services. While the upscale, costlier ones seem to nickle and dime you every chance they get.
I live in Western Canada and most of my travel is in the Country, but sometimes extends to the US. Maybe it is a more of a regional thing?
When I travel on business, I am generally put up at good hotels --the Marriot, Sheraton, etc., and am generally happy with my stay. The rooms are usually booked in a block by the conference organizers, and are thus available at a considerable discount. The facilites, etc., are usually well-kept and the service is good.
However, one time one of our directors canceled and I got his room at the Four Seasons (in Philadelphia). The room and facilities were good, although not really any fancier than at my more usual hotels. But, the level of personal service is a whole different experience!
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Whenever you interacted with almost any member of the staff, they greeted you by name.
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I scraped my leg on a protruding nail in the sauna. They had a repairman in to fix it in under five minutes.
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The local newpaper’s weekly TV listings booklet was put in each room – in a leather cover. Each day, the elastic that held the booklet in place was moved to the current day’s listings.
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I went out in-line skating one afternoon, and upon returning to the hotel (skating right up to the front entrance), the doorman looked me over, opened a small cupboard, and tossed me a towel and a bottle of Evian.
Maybe one day I’ll be a director and be able to stay in four-star hotels regularly.