Originally Posted by
cooperhs
Being new to FT, (and being the OP), what is the likelihood that this will be honored, or are we just all having fun?
My gut on this one is that it won't be.
But that's not really based on anything... I was surprised that the Holiday Inn in HKT honored the THB0.01 rate.. and I never thought the Conrad BKK would honor the $51 Presidential Suite.
And I enjoyed my $3 executive room at the Tokyo Hilton...
Not sure I can recall the last time that a US-based airline
didn't honor a mistake
fare. International airlines, it's more hit or miss. Alitalia didn't before they did... I've had success with MX and BA... but COPA's NYC-LIM fare was another story. At the very least there's a better chance of things being honored when they're at least prepaid, e.g. TG cancelled the 72-hour holds on LHR-BKK in F for nothin'.
Hotels? Hard to say! Bora Bora Nui didn't honor an ~ US$80 rate. Priceline didn't even fully honor all prepaid reservations recently in Palm Springs. Marriott didn't honor their Times Square mistake rate. But I had no problem a week ago on a $28 rate for a junior suite at the Renaissance Seattle, and that one wasn't prepaid.
Honestly I'm not sure if I've fully discerned a pattern with hotels.
(1) Book in order to get yourself in the game, should they decide to honor
(2) Don't make additional prepaid travel until you find out if it's going to be honored (though in a couple of cases, having made other arrangements were key to getting the deal honored -- eg Orbitz and Intercontinental Tokyo Bay, and IIRC Bora Bora Nui covered the cost of nonrefundably airfare when cancelling the Bora Bora Nui rate).
(3) Don't contact the booking agent until the deal is over (though asking whether the rate would be honored was in many cases key to having the Hilton Tokyo deal honored).
Guess there aren't really any rules but #1, though I tend to subscribe to 2 and 3...