Originally Posted by
vasantn
I never bother to look at the taxes, fees, and such. I look at the total I will be paying and compare it to the total that I would be paying if booking directly through the hotel or chain. The difference is the cost of the miles (elite benefits hold little value for me). If the net cost per mile is 2¢ or less, I book it through BookAAHotels. My calculation will change if I find in March that these are not all going to count as LPs.
I do not at all disagree with your logic.
My booking happened to get me 4,000 miles for an extra ~$35 in fees. i also paid $25 for the room that got me an additional 2k points, and then was offered the $25 for 2k MORE points and got that too...
FWIW, it hit my AA account as "6,000 BASE" and "2,000 BASE". I will follow you into battle if any of these are not counted as LPs
I was just agreeing with the fact that they certainly change the fee game on us for rooms that offer points. And, that the interface has horrid user experience whereby it can offer the same hotel with/without a points offer simply depending on how you have sorts/filters. Additionally, in ALL of my searches (not making a blanket statement, just my personal experience), the points bookings are pay-up-front, whereas the non-points bookings let me reserve and pay at the location.