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Thread: Is it just me?
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Old May 23, 2001, 1:06 pm
  #1  
homey
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 180
Is it just me?

i'm relatively new to this forum and to frequent travel, so forgive me if this post is out of line. i love the forum, im happy with my travel, and im not a battle hardened road warrior. but i have to ask...

am i the only person who doesnt care about having his butt kissed, and getting free cookies and water? am i the only one who realizes that when a hotel calls me "diamond" it is just part of a game to get more of my money, and that i am not a superior human being?

here is what i mean - i have been lurking in FT for quite a while, and i read lots of posts from people who say, "i visited the toad suck, arkansas, hotel, and despite being triple gold super executive status, and being upgraded (for free despite my $109 rate,) to a corner suite overlooking the town square, i did not receive my complimentary four ounce bottle of filtered water and two ounce bag of cheez-its. oh, and i also had to pay for my own breakfast, which is totally uncalled for. furthermore, it was cloudy that day! adam, please remedy this situation." its every forum, except rental car ones. (low expectations = fewer complaints?) notwithstanding, the snacks i usually see are highly processed, high-sugar, high-sodium, partially hydrogenated nutritional aberrations. i view it as an assault on my health to be offered cheeze-nips, milano cookies, and all that other stuff. i want an apple! i leave those snacks right where i find them, on top of that fake-cherry-laminate particle board desk!

let me say, i LOVE excessive service, and i love getting my butt kissed, but i do not feel ENTITLED to it. i love pre-boarding, i love upgrades, i love getting a big hotel room. but i dont need it. and who the hell do i think i am giving some clerk a hard time because i KNOW there are rooms on the "executive" floor? who cares? if it REALLY mattered that much to me, i would pay for it. (i might be totally insane.)

so let me be totally clear - if i reserve a suite for $1k a night, and they tell me its on the roof, and has a hot tub, and then i get there, and im on the ground floor, with a twin bed and a black and white TV, i go complain. but when i reserve an el cheapo room and dont get upgraded to an awesome suite, i dont complain. i got what i paid for. im talking about folks who complain when they dont get free stuff that they havent paid for.

in summary, even though it says gold-pressed latinum, or elite, or executive, or super-duper on some card in my wallet, i know im just a regular guy, cruising through life, happy to get a little extra, but really happy just to get what i need to keep cruising. is that common or uncommon? are my sights set too low? am i part of the problem? am i the guy the travel industry loves because they can steam-roller me by not giving me snacks and free eggs?

help a new FTer set his expectations.

maybe people are just venting, and i am readng too much into it. forgive me if thats the case.

p.s. when i re-read my post, i sound like the folks lamenting that parts of FT are now being used to screw/exploit the travel folks, as opposed to just finding ways to maximize the miles/points on a good-faith basis. maybe im old-school, even though i just got here...

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