Travel

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Travelocity Price Guarantee: Don’t Expect a Refund

For nearly a year, Orbitz has been advertising “Orbitz Price Assurance” that guarantees airline ticket purchasers an automatic refund if someone else books the exact same flights on Orbitz as you did, but for less money.

Not to be outdone, Travelocity has just introduced “Travelocity PriceGuardian” which applies to airfare and hotel packages, not just to airfare as the Orbitz plan originally did. [Since Travelocity added air/hotel packages, Orbitz added hotels to its guarantee.] The Travelocity plan promises to refund the difference if another Travelocity customer books the same package at a lower price.

travelocityguarantee

On the face of it, you might say what a good idea. But stop and think about it (and read the terms and conditions).

*MOUSE PRINT:

If another Travelocity.com customer books the same Flight+Hotel Vacation Package that you booked, meaning their Vacation Package contains the same flight and hotel combination (the same dates/times of travel, on the same airline/s, with the same flight numbers, for the same passenger type, itinerary, cabin, and subject to the same fare refundability, or other restrictions, and the same hotel and room type), and the price they pay is at least $10 lower than the price you booked, then Travelocity will refund the difference to you, up to a maximum of $500 per package.

What are the odds that ANYONE will book the exact same flights as you in both directions (same dates, same class) using Travelocity, and stay at the exact same hotel as you in the same priced room for the same number of nights? Slim and none.

Of course, the benefit is free, and should someone else meet these requirements and pay less (but not by using a coupon or other special offer), then you will automatically get a refund to your credit card.

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Delta’s Amazing SkyMiles Card Offer: “Amazing” Is All Relative

My mother recently received an email offer for an American Express SkyMiles credit card with the subject line, “Your Amazing Offer has Arrived.” Here it is:

skymiles25

The quick read indicates you will get “up to 25,000 miles”, which is divided into seemingly two miles deposits: 20,000 up front and 5,000 more if you add more cardmembers.

*Mouse Print: The additional 5,000 miles has an unexpected twist found in footnote #2.

2,500 bonus miles will be awarded to your Delta SkyMiles account for each approved Additional Card submitted with this application, up to a maximum of 5,000 bonus miles.

One might reasonably have assumed that adding a single additional cardmember to your account would have triggered the extra 5,000 miles bonus.

On the same day that my mother received this offer, I also received an email entitled, “Your Amazing Offer has Arrived.” Here is what mine said:

skymiles40

So, I must be twice as amazing as my mother since I was being offered 40,000 miles instead of 20,000 (as she has no one to give another card to).

This is a terrible slight on my mother, who is a saint. In fact, she has been dead for three and half years.

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BJ’s $149 Cruise: Don’t Expect the Advertised Extras

bjscruiseThere are some unprecedented bargains being offered in the cruise industry these days.

Here is an offer from BJ’s Wholesale Club for a four-night cruise for an amazing $149 — just $37 a night.

Besides that, they are promising getting up to $500 of credit to spend on the ship and even, possibly, a BJ’s gift card of up to $200.  Sounds like they are going to pay you to take this trip.

When you begin to get the details of the trip, the promises change.

*MOUSE PRINT:

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In one place, it indicates that the onboard spending is only “up to $100” and in another place the onboard spending is a $200 coupon booklet.  Neither of those is the up to $500 promised.  Worse, when you click the “see details” link, more bad news is delivered.

*MOUSE PRINT:

bjscruise3

Looks like we do not qualify for any shipboard credit on two counts: (1) it only applies on trips of six days or longer; and (2) the advertised $37 rate is for an inside cabin, and only outside cabins qualify.

As one clicks further, hope is restored with this:

bjscruise5

And hope is dashed by the fine print footnote:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Carnival onboard savings booklet offer is valid only for new individual bookings made between 3/3/09 and 4/1/09 for oceanview staterooms on all sailings of 5 nights or longer, departing after 5/1/09.

Finally, what about that BJ’s $200 gift card that was advertised?  Well, we lose on that score too because we don’t meet the minimum purchase requirement.

*MOUSE PRINT:

bjscruise4

On checking with a reservation specialist at BJ’s Travel, one further learns that the $149 rate is an interior room with only bunk beds (ouch), and with taxes and fees comes to $201.73.  To upgrade to two lower beds is an additional $30 per person.

When asked whether the email advertisement was deceptive because the advertised price did not include the extras stated, she said that it was not misleading because the advertised rates have certain restrictions and criteria for getting those rates.

But there is good news, we do qualify for a reduced deposit. Thanks for nothing.