For those of you NOT on expense accounts, etc. and for those who are self-paying for your rooms, I would like to get your opinion. Sometimes, I book a room 6 months ahead but am not sure of the exact length of stay so I book extra pre- and post- days to tide me over. I have found rates are cheaper the farther I book ahead online. In the past, this was no problemo. But lately the rates have been jumping $50 or $100 per night when I try to change the length of a stay online. I tried calling the Diamond desk (trying different reps, multiples calls, etc.) and they all told me it was impossible to keep the old rate, too. I recently I had an incident that involved fixing another reps botch up with I added a reward certificate to a paid stay. It became necessary for the Diamond rep to enlist the aid of her supervisor. Lo and behold, now the original rate was upheld and honored with no rate increase. Happy camper. But here is my question to the FlyerTalk gurus, what has been your experience? Is this mess a result of the website overhaul? Is this something I have to insist a supervisor get involved with everytime? The DD rep I was speaking to told me she had 14 years experience, but why didn't she have the capability to protect my rate when I was only shortening my stay and arriving one day later?