Points plus cash - technical problem
Jun 9, 2017, 9:22 am
#16
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
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Jun 9, 2017, 10:02 am
#17
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Let's just say that if I were the owner/operator of points.com and had a legally-memorialized, exclusive relationship of sorts with Choice over managing the sales of Choice points and were to notice that the way people are buying Choice points has dropped off because Choice has started to do a run-around to more cheaply sell points via the points+cash method, then what would I do. I may throw my legal weight around to try to get the slice of the pie that I had wanted and thought I would be getting before P+C was as much in the picture with this program.
While some might wonder why this would hit Choice and perhaps not some other programs, keep in mind that the legal sophistication and negotiating position strength is not equal amongst all loyalty programs and that points.com isn't used by all the players under the exact same contract terms.
While some might wonder why this would hit Choice and perhaps not some other programs, keep in mind that the legal sophistication and negotiating position strength is not equal amongst all loyalty programs and that points.com isn't used by all the players under the exact same contract terms.
Jun 9, 2017, 12:23 pm
#18
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Join Date: Jan 2005
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Posts: 25,933
In the legal area, I could see for example that they discovered that they were incorrectly handling this "hidden" points purchase in their accounting, and that they have to fix the accounting issues before they can resume "selling" points in this way.
Or it could be that it was an imprecise explanation. Ie, it could be a technical problem with the "back engine" which drives both the website and whatever technique phone agents used to book cash + points reservations for you, despite claims above that it was a technical problem with the website itself.
Keep in mind that AFAIK there's only one other hotel program which does cash + points the same way (as a "hidden" way of buying points), and they developed that system a decade or two ago. So Choice may not have had much to go by when they implemented it, and may not have done it all correctly, but only discovered that recently.
Or it could be that it was an imprecise explanation. Ie, it could be a technical problem with the "back engine" which drives both the website and whatever technique phone agents used to book cash + points reservations for you, despite claims above that it was a technical problem with the website itself.
Keep in mind that AFAIK there's only one other hotel program which does cash + points the same way (as a "hidden" way of buying points), and they developed that system a decade or two ago. So Choice may not have had much to go by when they implemented it, and may not have done it all correctly, but only discovered that recently.
Jun 9, 2017, 1:31 pm
#19
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I'm pretty sure that isn't it.
Jun 15, 2017, 3:25 am
#20
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Jul 2, 2017, 11:39 am
#23
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Bay Area
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Aug 30, 2017, 3:24 pm
#26
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 246
Tried to book different hotels on different days, using points and cash, but the option never became available on the website, as it has in the past.
Just called, and the agent says there is a known technical issue with points and cash, and they are working on it. But for now, that rate is not available.
Just called, and the agent says there is a known technical issue with points and cash, and they are working on it. But for now, that rate is not available.
Anyway, a few more recent things are "bugging" me too -- all of these are points related:
1) I can no longer see the points price requirement for a particular hotel when I pull up a hotel overview. This used to be there, I think for all properties, with the "new" website. I'm not sure if this is another website defect or what else it could be.
2) Issue #1 caused me to buy 2k points to top off my account for an upcoming redemption, only to realize now that I actually needed 4k points (originally my stay date was slightly outside of my booking window, so I was basing the points price on an earlier date but the same day of the week -- OR possibly they just snuck in a devaluation on this property, which I guess wouldn't surprise me either). Choice currently has a 40% bonus points buy promo going on, had I known this earlier I might've purchased more points since there is a 5k minimum to get the 40% bonus.
3) When my daughter (non-Elite) was purchasing points the other day to top off her account for an upcoming redemption, for some reason the rate was $13.40 instead of $11.00 per 1,000. For me (Platinum Elite), it was still $11 per 1,000 and I'm quite certain this was the price for me before I became an Elite member. Now with the 40% bonus promo going on, somehow it's back to $11 per 1,000 for non-Elites (even before hitting the 40% bonus at the 5k points level). We were both a bit puzzled by this, thankfully she held off the other day and didn't purchase at that time and saved a few bucks. I'm not sure if this is another website defect or what else it could be.
Anyone else notice issue #1 or #3 above? Just curious. Thanks in advance.
Aug 31, 2017, 1:23 pm
#27
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But not long before it vanished, I noticed a hotel that was charging a (slightly) different number of points for the current season than the chart showed (something like 8k vs 10k or 10k vs 12k). So maybe they got complaints about that kind of stuff and removed it for that reason?
Sep 8, 2017, 6:21 am
#28
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Monterey, California
Programs: Affiliated with all, participate in some
Posts: 2,188
1. Points Plus Cash are no longer mentioned in Choice Terms & Conditions.
2. There was a rate increase in the reward price for a majority of hotels I have been following over the past month. The rate increase happened some time between August 24 and Sept 4.
3. https://www.choicehotels.ca/ Choice Hotels Canada website shows seasonal reward rates when you check the home page of any specific hotel. Changes to reward rates on this site in the past two weeks confirmed a major shift upward for reward rate changes.
10 of 16 hotels I have been following for past month for my travels increased reward rates. None decreased.
I booked several hotel reward night reservations on August 20 for hotels that are now 50% more points for the same dates.
2. There was a rate increase in the reward price for a majority of hotels I have been following over the past month. The rate increase happened some time between August 24 and Sept 4.
3. https://www.choicehotels.ca/ Choice Hotels Canada website shows seasonal reward rates when you check the home page of any specific hotel. Changes to reward rates on this site in the past two weeks confirmed a major shift upward for reward rate changes.
10 of 16 hotels I have been following for past month for my travels increased reward rates. None decreased.
I booked several hotel reward night reservations on August 20 for hotels that are now 50% more points for the same dates.
Sep 8, 2017, 4:06 pm
#29
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 246
3. https://www.choicehotels.ca/ Choice Hotels Canada website shows seasonal reward rates when you check the home page of any specific hotel. Changes to reward rates on this site in the past two weeks confirmed a major shift upward for reward rate changes.
10 of 16 hotels I have been following for past month for my travels increased reward rates. None decreased.
I booked several hotel reward night reservations on August 20 for hotels that are now 50% more points for the same dates.
10 of 16 hotels I have been following for past month for my travels increased reward rates. None decreased.
I booked several hotel reward night reservations on August 20 for hotels that are now 50% more points for the same dates.
Sep 8, 2017, 5:00 pm
#30
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: MN, USA
Posts: 246
3) When my daughter (non-Elite) was purchasing points the other day to top off her account for an upcoming redemption, for some reason the rate was $13.40 instead of $11.00 per 1,000. For me (Platinum Elite), it was still $11 per 1,000 and I'm quite certain this was the price for me before I became an Elite member. Now with the 40% bonus promo going on, somehow it's back to $11 per 1,000 for non-Elites (even before hitting the 40% bonus at the 5k points level). We were both a bit puzzled by this, thankfully she held off the other day and didn't purchase at that time and saved a few bucks. I'm not sure if this is another website defect or what else it could be.