Originally Posted by
chicaloca453
I had a Mesa flight delay that led to a hotel voucher. The hotel offered was the Atrium Hotel and Suites. Is this normal IRROPS protocol for an EXP? I don't want to sound like a diva, but I at least expected a Holiday Inn as an EXP. I'm just wondering if this is par for the course or just a fluke. Hotels in the DFW area are super cheap and plentiful because of the holiday. I ended up paying for my own room at the Hyatt Regency (Grand Hyatt was booked). I'm happy with my decision, but I'm still disappointed AA is being so stingy. I get times are tough for the airline business, but as a UA 1K I was given the Marriott or the Westin on an IRROP.
I'd love to know your experiences.
In my early days of flying AA frequently, before I knew better, I found that waiting around the airport to obtain a hotel voucher resulted in a fairly mixed bag of hotels, ranging from 2 to 4 stars, sometimes right next to the airport, sometimes fairly far away. I also never noticed elite status making any clear difference in which hotel was offered.
Originally Posted by
jcatman
I pay for every single airline ticket with a credit card that offers reimbursement for situations exactly like yours. Usually, the Chase Sapphire Reserve for personal travel
Lately I almost always do the same as the quoted post above -- book with a credit card that will reimburse me for essentially whatever hotel I'd like.
Alternatively, if credit card reimbursement weren't an option for one reason or another, I'd consider it worth the money in terms of time and frustration saved just to book and pay for my own hotel. AA has, in the past, at times, provided reimbursement to EPs for their own hotels (I've been asked to submit receipts to AA Customer Relations before), but sometimes they've provided only partial reimbursement, and sometimes they've denied it entirely (just my personal experience).