LOW-PRICE guarantees on travel websites are about as common as warts on a toad -- and sometimes about as attractive.
The guarantees typically say that if a traveler finds a better deal on another website for the same hotel rate or airfare, the website will match it.
Some sites throw in incentives. Hilton, for instance, offers a $50 American Express gift card. Other sites offer a free night's stay. Sounds reasonable enough.
But the websites typically require consumers to scramble through all sorts of hoops to qualify for the guarantee. Some say you must file a claim within 24 hours; others insist you show that the rate for the same room type for the same night at the same hotel was actually available.
Even then, some consumers are not always guaranteed the guarantee.
Stan Dulkiewicz of Rochester, N.Y., made a reservation on www.daysinn.com for a standard double room at the Days Inn and Conference Center in Toronto for this month. He was quoted $113 a night for two nights. He later found a rate for the same standard room at the same hotel for the same nights for about $102 at www.hotels.ca, the Hotels.com website for Canada.
The guaranteed best available rate, advertised on the Days Inn homepage under "special offers," says, "If you find a lower publicly available rate for the same hotel accommodation and date on another website, we'll give you your first night free."
So Dulkiewicz filled out the necessary form online and submitted it. Within a few hours he received an e-mail from a Days Inn customer service Internet representative saying his claim had been denied because "we are unable to verify that the room offered at the lower rate is the same as the room you have booked."
The rep signed off with "Book with confidence at Days Inn.com with the Guaranteed Best Available Rate. Enjoy your stay at Days Inn."
Dulkiewicz was concerned. He had made a reservation in May at the same hotel using the Days Inn website, found a similar discrepancy and had received the same response. This time he decided to pursue it.
In an e-mail, he told the representative that the rate he was looking at could be found on Hotels.ca.
"The description of the room on Hotels.ca does not specify the number of beds in the room," the rep wrote back in an e-mail response. Claim denied.
They exchanged several e-mails about the definition of a "standard room." Dulkiewicz asked to be put in touch with a supervisor. The customer service rep replied, "There is nothing further we would be able to assist you with. Have a nice day."
