SCEflyer

[QUOTE=hunter69] If I spend 150+ nights during a year on a corporate rate legitimately, what is the impact of me using that same rate for a few weekend getaways?

None at all!! You are not making any misrepresentations. You have ID & there are no limitations about when you can use the rate.

On the other hand, the publicly available weekend rate might be < than your corporate rate.

LH738

I completely agree with you. Rarely check-in staff asks to show an ID.

drtdk

Many legitimate travelers (e.g., salesman, consultants, employees from affiliated companies) wouldn't have any verifiable ID so the suggested TSA, "check everybody" approach is problematic. Also, what constitutes a valid ID?

I'd rather the hotel focus on a friendly welcome than training the night clerk on all of the valid IDs of all of the hotel's corporate clients.

My personal suggestion is to consider checking IDs if the hotel is full that night.

hhoope01

I used to do some contract work down in the South Florida area for Continental and usually stayed at a Courtyard. I asked about rates and that I was working with Continental. The manager mentioned that I could use the Travel Industry rate if I could provide either a valid Continental ID (which I didn't have) or could get Continental to write a note on their company letterhead stating that I was doing work for them that week. So everytime I went down there I just had Continental write me a letter. I do believe that in all the weeks I spent down there, I was only asked to provide an ID once or twice. The letter worked just fine.

Nachtswerg

Ah, but a simple 'And who will you be visiting this trip?' question should be sufficient. It shouldn't be that hard to remember why you're staying in the hotel, in the first place.

As I've mentioned before, I have had clerks ask me that question during check in. I think it's fine for them to do so.

SkiAdcock

I do consulting for different companies. Some have corp rates; some don't. The ones that have corp rates tell me to use it as then my expenses are less than if I stayed at a non-corp rate and it also helps them to fulfill their room obligation w/ the chain to get the corp rate.

I'm not normally asked for id, & I wouldn't have it given I'm an independent consultant. If asked for a letter I'd contact my client & get them to send it over (well, hopefully - some of the people I report to travel as well), although wouldn't do it unless asked as it's an additional hassle.

When I worked for corp America (F50 & F500 firms) we were told we could use the corp rate for personal travel as well. I'm assuming it's because they wanted to hit their room #s for the discount. Actually when I worked for corp America I was never asked for id.

About the only time I'm asked for it now is w/ the AAA rate & even that's spotty.

Cheers.

KimmyAA

When spending time onsite at certain customers, they suggest we use their rate, as others have mentioned here.

Marriott_Guy, what is your take on that? If a customer tells me to use their negotiated rate when I am specifically visiting them, am I eligible to use it?

Thanks.

Marriott_Guy

Kimmy.

Most of the time the negotiated rate is extended for contractors or visiting vendors/suppliers for the company, as well as is available for use on personal use for the it's associates on non-company related travel. Of course, there are a few exceptions to this, but generally this is true. My opinion - by all means use their negotiated rate. Some bigger companies even offer their vendors/suppliers 'Vendor' cards to be shown at c/i to receive the neg rate.

Thanks and hope this helps.

CPRich

Ethic shouldn't be in flux.

If "economics" influence your "ethics", then in reality you have none. IMHO.

rothrob

Seriously? Perhaps someone with an indefatigable moral compass would interpret my post that way. I prefer to think that my post was suggesting that economics influence one's choice of hotels, not one's ethics. Furthermore, I stand by my statement that a hotel operator may very well prefer to have someone pay for a room at a corporate rate that they may not qualify for rather than have an empty room. What’s unreasonable about that?

The supposition that ethics don't change, however, is unreasonable.

norodnik

with the advent of the internet, brokers, low cost travel agencies, you can almost always match or better the corporate rate.

I get a load of total BS from my company about using Amex Corporate card so they can "negotiate" with service providers.

Guess what, 95% of the time, my own individual searching and negotiation gets me a better rate and benefits.

ie: If I hire a car with Hertz, my "company" rate is quite cheap and I do not have to prepay, but I get no insurance and a limit of 180 free miles. If I do it myself and use wow rate code, I get unlimited miles, insurance and its costs no more.

With hotel, often I find the corporate rate is higher than the plethora of leisure rates.

When mentioned to said travel dept, they sigh and say they "need to know where I am" in case of worldwide disaster or "people like you weaken our cr*p negotiators hand".

Well, in my 20 years of being on the road, the travel dept has never once pre-empted any cancellation or disaster. I ring up, they ask me where I am, and then we go from there.

I know the vast majority of travellers don't bother with stuff like I do but I would close with the following summary:

Corporate discounts today are not what they used to be and most non-company TA's shold be able to find you a similar if not better rate (maybe not for Govt employees). Whilst lots of company negotiators think they are doing a great job will all the company data and the discounts that they can secure with it, no one actually looks to see how much it saves against real rates V's the rack rates from which the discounts are secured. In other words, some times you win and sometimes you lose so net net, forcing you to use particular services or chains is counter productive and not in the best interests of the traveller.

(the only counter to the last point possibly being reciprocal spend which is a moot point as well)

hnewman

I try to live my life by thinking about the following statement. Do the right thing for the right reasons. Sad very sadly the world does not work that way. Marriott_Guy is 100% correct you should never use rates other than what you are entitled to, but by the same token Marriott should follow the same policy in some of its rate structure. I travel often on USG business and Marriott often has two rates one for USG employees and one for contractors (have contractor badges). Since the USG will often only reimburse without prior approval USG rates only and Marriott must know that these kinds of things are going to happen. As I said everyone ought to do the right thing for the right reasons. Marriott includes. Thanks Marriott_Guy for starting this thread. ^ and this discussion.

Marriott_Guy

Thanks hnewman.

Regarding the separate rates for employees and vendors/contractors, this is a negotiated item. Sometimes it is dictated by the respective company (the two separate rates). This can happen due to a number of reasons. One, the company may negotiate a better rate for itself and a different one for it's vendors since it has shareholders to report to and do not have to report to the shareholders of their vendors. Sounds cold, but that is reality. It also depends on their negotiating power (volume for either a given market or on a more global basis). I am not speaking for Marriott on a whole, just my perspective as a GM. yes, I am aware that this does happen (reimbursement policy stipulations), however obviously I am not part of the decision process with the respective company. However, the bigger companies that do negotiate rates do so on behalf of their contractor's as well, usually regardless of size. Since at times a number of smaller companies do not necessarily have the volume to be able to negotiate a rate on their own, the 'company' can and does offer do so on their behalf. Yes, they do so to keep their costs lower as well, but trust me on this - they are looking out for their suppliers. It ultimately helps their bottom line.

Hope this helps out.

SkiAdcock

BTW marriott_guy, since you're relatively new to FT, this topic (ok to use rates or not) crops up on a somewhat regular basis each year. You could do a search & all the old threads would probably be listed, although really no need to do so.

The responses mainly fall into 3-4 areas:

1) I would never do it & the rest of you who do are unethical schmoes who should have a good time in hades w/ the devil;

2) heck yes I'll use any code I can to get a discount (at any hotel chain, not just Marriott);

3) Most of the time I don't use a code I'm not entitled to but occasionally I'll look for something cheaper if the trip is on my dime;

4) I'm not going to post whether I do or not; I'm just going to grab the popcorn & soda & watch you all have at it.

I doubt if those who are on the I'll never do it & you all are going to h*ll & those who use them a lot will change their minds based on this thread (or the previous ones).

Cheers.

DJ_Iceman

One who is aware of the big picture and who thinks long-term. The "value" of a hotel is partially assessed by potential guests by looking at the room rates. If a local Marriott became known for letting you walk up to the front desk, offer $20, and get a room if they weren't sold out, soon NO ONE would pay more than $20 for a room. There is a certain price at which it is better for the hotel, from a prestige and credibility standpoint, to leave a room empty.