SkiAdcock, I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me.

Someone asks me for travel advise - let's say something like "we know you've been to cityxxx and we're looking for a cute little hotel for the weekend. I spend a fair amount of time researching options, even check availability and pricing, and send them all the information, only to hear back "Oh, we just went ahead and booked the Hilton because we wanted the points". To the MOON! Those people don't get helped again. ^