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Amex FHR prepaid rate 10% higher than linked reservation on Marriott's
Just booked one night in Ritz Osaka, the prepaid rate I was charged is 10% higher than what's shown in the reservation on my Marriott's account. Amex charged me 596.06, and the rate shown on marriott.com is about 542. Is it normal or should I call Amex to adjust the charge?
Amex charged me in USD while Marriott's reservation shows rate in JPN(Yen). The following is what Amex charged, 1 Room x 1 Night $471.19 Estimated Taxes and Fees $124.87 Cost $596.06 Since I provided my MR#, the confirmed reservation shows up in my Marriott's account. The reservation shows the following breakdown, Total cash rate 46,000 Service Charge 6,900 Estimated government taxes and fees 5,890 Total for stay in hotel's currency 58,790 Based on the current exchange rate, 1:108.46, the total is 542.02USD. |
Does the Marriott rate have the same benefits, such as breakfast for 2 and guaranteed 4pm checkout? The FHR rate isn't always the cheapest available.
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Originally Posted by Steve M
(Post 31278503)
Does the Marriott rate have the same benefits, such as breakfast for 2 and guaranteed 4pm checkout? The FHR rate isn't always the cheapest available.
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Originally Posted by Steve M
(Post 31278503)
Does the Marriott rate have the same benefits, such as breakfast for 2 and guaranteed 4pm checkout? The FHR rate isn't always the cheapest available.
Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts Pay NowAdditional Information
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Originally Posted by gdoubleu
(Post 31278589)
Besides, FHR Rates are not part of Amex's Lowest Rate Guarantee. They cannot be price-matched, unfortunately.
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Are you saying that you can book a FHR rate (prepaid package) directly on the Marriott website? AFAIK that shouldn't be possible since the FHR rate must be booked through AmEx. BTW, for most foreign destinations, the rate in local currency is definitive and anything in USA dollars is just an estimate based on some exchange rate that might not be the one that applies when you pay. ADDED: The "non-commissionable" term in what you just posted suggests that the rate doesn't qualify for travel agents to get their standard commission, which AFAIK would violate the terms of hotel contracts with AmEx as a condition for participating in FHR.....or maybe it's a Starriott website glitch similar to customers being shown the amount of money the hotel receives for award stays as in principle on travel agent bookings, the hotel would receive the rate paid by the customer minus the 10% commission on the basic room rate (not including gas, resort fees, service charges, etc.). In fact, it looks to me like the rate you're seeing is just the FHR rate reduced by the standard 10% commission, with some allowance for exchange rate variation and the commission not being paid on tax, etc. If Marriott in general or this hotel in particular is undercutting their FHR deal, it should be a *HUGE* problem to AmEx. You could try reporting the situation to AmEx and asking them to match the "FHR rate" the hotel is publicly offering and advertising on their website. This is simply not supposed to happen, although perhaps it's just a case of some summer intern needing much more supervision. |
FHR is not known for being the lowest price. It's more of a convenience bundle of being able to get special perks without loyalty at a reasonable price.
Having a top tier loyalty at a chain is often going to result in a better deal than FHR. Although some people will fight to the death about the 4pm checkout guarantee |
Originally Posted by Super Mario
(Post 31278808)
FHR is not known for being the lowest price. It's more of a convenience bundle of being able to get special perks without loyalty at a reasonable price.
Having a top tier loyalty at a chain is often going to result in a better deal than FHR. Although some people will fight to the death about the 4pm checkout guarantee There's no indication that OP has Starriott/Bonvoy status. If 4 pm checkout is guaranteed, what's wrong with fighting for it? BTW I just noticed that this is one of those "not guaranteed if arrive after 6 pm" reservations, which would seem (I hope) to be another IT problem. I also hope the OP is OK with a smoking room. |
Usually, any booking side (be it a hotel directly or through a 3rd party like booking.com) that offers "prepay but pay at side" will have a rather good exchange rate shown upon time of booking, to encourage bookings with them. But then, when you stay there, and pay in local currency, you'll eventually notice on your credit card bill that the charge was quite a bit higher than what was shown to you when doing to booking as "estimation".
To "fix" the rate properly, often it's possible to pay directly with them (ie, you won't pay at the hotel since it's properly prepaid and paid directly with your credit card on time of booking, not when you actually stay there) and still get a good exchange rate (because they'll convert it on a good exchange rate, again, to make you actually pick them - at this point, you still get a choice ;) ) If I get the choice between proper PrePaid and "PrePaid but pay at hotel in local currency", I'll always pick the first option, no questions. This doesn't seems the case here - it's a "pre-booked but paid at hotel" arrangements when you use Amex FHR, without choice to pay in advance unless I'm mistaken. So, you'll definitely have some percentage upmarks from the JPY rate that was shown (and translated into your local currency, USD, on your credit card bill) That upmark can be quite a few %. Depending on currencies, of course. It's also possible that the rate (in JPY) that Amex got from the hotel was fixed some time ago. Currencies do fluctuate quite heavily recently. Currently the JPY is (relatively) strong and the USD is relatively weak. If the rate was fixed while the USD was a bit stronger, it will be translated into higher charges in USD due to the exchange rate being worse for you. The hotel will still charge the same amount, but you'll be charged more. While booking with the hotel directly, you'd get a day-rate exchange rate, which might be to your advantage. For me, it looks like a combination of the exchange rate you got when paying there being worse than what Marriott offers when they charge it directly in USD and possibly some currency fluctuation. With international exchange rates moving up and down a few percentages quite fast, it would be literally impossible for a hotel to offer a FHR rate that is always cheaper unless that rate is so massively below their own PrePaid rate. That's why hotels will always charge in the local currency (or getting paid in local currency, when you book through an OTA, which might have different prices for the same property every day due to currency fluctuations) |
There are now some FHR rates that are prepaid and nonrefundable, in contrast to traditional FHR bookings that are guaranteed but not prepaid and typically have a 48 hour cancellation policy. OP appears to have one of these newer PREPAID FHR rates, which don't always earn points (on the room rate) or elite night credits and might not get elite benefits at the property. |
Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
(Post 31278876)
There are now some FHR rates that are prepaid and nonrefundable.
Originally Posted by bjm5
(Post 31278633)
I am not talking about matching a lower Marriott's rate. It's the same reservation that is about 10% lower in total shown on Marriott's than what I paid to FHR.....
It's possible that FHR has a contracted rate, in Dollars, that is stable, regardless of market price or currency fluctuations. Otherwise, it is possible that American Express used a different exchange rate. Inasmuch as the reservation appears to be refundable I would ask American Express to explain the discrepancy. |
It looks like a system issue that shows the commissioned rate by accident. FHR allows me to book either prepay or postpay, so I tried booking the same room with the same rate a week later postpay. FHR reservation shows exactly the same amount while Marriott's rate has the 10% mark-up. The commissioned rate has both room rate and service charge routed.
Here's the difference between prepay and postpay,
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
(Post 31278820)
There's no indication that OP has Starriott/Bonvoy status. If 4 pm checkout is guaranteed, what's wrong with fighting for it? BTW I just noticed that this is one of those "not guaranteed if arrive after 6 pm" reservations, which would seem (I hope) to be another IT problem. I also hope the OP is OK with a smoking room. |
Isn't the difference just about the quoted 5890 yen in taxes (from your first series of screenshots)? Could that be the discrepancy?
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Originally Posted by bjm5
(Post 31279405)
I also noticed the smoking room part. I would never go with a smoking room, so will definitely check with Ritz to secure a non-smoking room. By the way, I do have Platinum Elite with Marriott.
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