The importance of saving everything!
 

I mentioned this before, but for the second time in a month I had to chase after Hilton for uncredited stay at the Millenium Hilton,
Manhattan (the SAME hotel I had problems with
the last time.) After faxing my folio, the
reservation information from my on-line booking plus my cancelled credit card receipt
within a few days the stay was posted with the appropriate bonuses.

I'm disappointed that I had to chase after Hilton for the points but a few things eased
my "Room rage:"

*Prompt and nice customer service by phone and e-mail.
*An intereting e-mail that I finally got upgraded to GOLD!!! This was a nice surprise.

As for the Freddie's, Marriott and HIlton are still battling it out in my head for several
catagories. CATMAN

I'm kind of lax when it comes to keeping track of my point postings. Delta is not a problem, because as soon as I get home or to where I'm going I log on the 'net and check my statement on line, and once I confirm that the milage is there I throw away my boarding passes.

As for hotels and such, I usually just throw away the receipts, except on business travel of course!

I stayed at Hiltons twice in my life, both this year, and NEITHER time did they credit any points to my Hilton account, one stay I know I gave them my card at the beginning of the stay, and the other I booked online through the Hilton site.

Needless to say, 2/2 is not a good record in my mind and has definitely biased me against Hilton!

Catman, you inspired me months ago to keep everything from my travels.

The only trouble is that I have so much stuff now that I can never find anything. I went through a stage a few weeks ago of trying to claim all the stays/flights/hires etc where I had not been credited - the responce was terrible.

I think CO credited me for 1 flight out of about 15 missing flights. Nothing from UA. Hilton credited everything no trouble. Marriott - nothing. SAS - nothing. Delta - nothing.

I wish I could be bothered to hassle them, but I can't. Perhaps there is a business opportunity here for someone? A company that promises to get your missing credits credited for a small fee.
MF

That would be a good business. Or Inside FLyer can start a service like that. (Or you can start it... you created it, if you wanted a new career call it "Blue Carpet Services!)

I know it's difficult to go after every missing point (I've given up with Mileage Plus dining!) It's even tougher with the busy lives you lead.

Here's another Catman trick: get a box (or
milk carton or file in your desk) and a set of file folders. Put all paperwork for each
program in the file and when you have some free time check over the folder (I do that
two sunday's a month) If there are missing
flights.stays you can do everything in one big sweep.

My friends say I'm obsessive with certain things like ff programs... grocery coupons...
and getting the right price for items. On
saturday the price on the shelf for cat litter was a dollar difference from what the supermarket scanner rang up. I asked about the difference and got seven bucks back!!!
(I buy the best for my cats!) CATMAN

There is a lot of time and paperwork involved in this, so I doubt if it could become a successful business. Maybe someday there would be a special web page at the web sites for airlines, hotels and car rentals, where one could enter relevant information (I am already sending emails to customer services via web sites to get credit). I liked the idea someone posted a while ago, where the customer would receive double miles if the appropriate miles were not successfully posted the first time - but I doubt if anyone would adopt this.

Beckles, if you do not have a copy of the hotel receipt you could ask the hotel to mail you an extra copy.

A recent experience - Thrifty had a double mile promotion with American airlines for rentals 2 days or more on certain days. They credited me the base miles, but not the bonus miles. When I got in touch with them they did not even know about the promotion, and I had to talk to three people before I reached a representative who knew about it and who could credit the miles.

Just to follow up on my previous posting, I sent Hilton a message through their website saying I was disappointed that they hadn't credited either of my two stays and listed the stays and dates, and they gave me credit for both stays ... So maybe they'll get another chance in the future. For some reason, I just don't end up staying at Hiltons though ...

My experiences with the NY Hilton & Towers is similar to Catman's at the Millenium Hilton. I end up having to mail in the folio almost EVERY stay, since after 2 to 3 weeks, there is no credit.

I claim (1/3rd of my stays?) missing Hilton miles on-line on the hilton-web-site. Sometimes (about 1 in 5) they ask me to fax a copy of the bill. In 1998 this always worked out (once even in double credits).

I have had a lot of missing credit from the Sioux City Hilton (see other references in the "Colorado" mail). When I called HHonors about this problem, they attributed it to the hotel billing department. The billing department never returned my phone calls. Funny thing, I have never had problems with the billing...

I have sent copies of folios several times and have received inconsistent results. I have also thought that someone could make a great profit by championing the missing credit dilemma. With the clout of hundreds or thousands of travelers behind him/her, the champion could affect some mighty changes in the programs. I even thought of doing it myself once or twice, but then I wouldn't have time to travel ;)