lililolo

I was using a Chase free night certificate to book a night oversea. During my booking process, there were a lot to choose from, including a junior suite with lounge access, all with the same redemption points. Obviously I chose the junior suite and got a confirmation number.

Everything went well and it has been a week+ and the reservation still showing the junior suites with lounge access.

I looked at the reservation this morning and noticed it did said the FNC is only for standard room, so here is my question. If the hotel confirmed the reservation, will they deny my confirmation when I physical check-in? I just do not want to be in a situation that I have no room at the last minutes.

Anybody has similar scenario and would like to share, thanks.

craigthemif

You might be given the key to a standard room, but you shouldn�t be walked.

Note that IHG hotels are incentivised to get as full occupancy as possible to get a higher payment from IHG for award nights. So letting people book suites, etc. using points can actually be a clever strategy and not just a glitch.

js1993

Are you sure you used the Chase free night and didn't book with points by mistake?

You referred to "points" in your comment, but when using the free night, it should just say "free" in the room listing, not a points total.

lililolo

Yes, I am using the FNC, it did say free anniversary night on the confirmation. The reason I mentioned points is the FNC is any hotel up to 40,000 points, the hotel I reserved was 36,000 points/night for all rooms/junior suites available at the time.

if I end up having a standard room, I am fine with that. I only care about the lounge access if the hotel honors it. I read a lot of good thing about the lounge and was so excited when I was allowed to book a suite with lounge access, using the FNC.

Well, I will see and report back.

336

Just tell us the name of the hotel already.

AsiaTraveler

I doubt it will be an issue unless it gets flagged in advance. In my experience, IHG check-in clerks have a hard time telling the difference between a points reservation and one using a free night certificate.

336

You have a confirmed reservation.

No one is going to deny check-in. There is a contractual agreement.

Furthermore, it's highly unlikely that the person checking you in even cares.

You booked a junior suite with lounge. Good for you. The hotel should provide a junior suite and loinge access.

​​​​​​Everything else is nonsense.

ninjalad

They might not be able to tell the difference but neither are eligible for a junior suite and lounge access (apart from RA)
I suspect the outcome will depend on the hotel policy, the booking is obviously a glitch in the system. Just like some airlines go our glitch bookings in Biz for silly prices others don�t.

Schnit

I book a lot of Residence Inns, and often times they have Studios and 1 Bedrooms for the same price. I am guessing they want to just get people in, because the higher the occupancy, the more money they get per rewards booking.

I will assume you got lucky and found a hotel looking to do the same thing. As long as your reservation says Junior Suite I would expect you to get that at check in, and if not escalate it

dw

I�ve noticed this at various IHG properties, ranging from HIX to Kimptons- sometimes they will open up additional room categories above the regular standard room for redemption at the same points price. I don�t think it was a glitch but rather intentional by the property. (At the same time, YMMV on actually getting access to the lounge.)

steveholt

You will absolutely have a reservation and a room.

Whether you have a junior suite with lounge access depends on how much you want to push it. I would guess you have an e-mail confirmation stating that you've booked a junior suite with lounge access. The hotel might try to say that they don't want to honor that arrangement. Pushing back and escalating it to the manager on property should alleviate that problem. If that fails, you might need to reach out to IHG at checkin to try and get them to communicate with the hotel and honor your confirmation. Other times, the property might just refuse to honor the confirmation, at which point you should reach out to IHG to refund you the cost of the room (since it's an anniversary night, I'd ask for 40K points).

lililolo

Thank you all for all the feedback, I will report back after the trip. It will be in a couple of months though. Thanks again.

336

Just tell us the name of the hotel already.

farnorthtrader

To put a twist on this, I also was using a certificate to book a room about two weeks ago and found a hotel where the cert was usable for a superior room (lowest category, $250/night)), a deluxe room ($300/night) or a two bedroom suite ($550/night). Naturally, I booked the two bedroom suite, however, only had two certs for a three night stay, so went back in to book with points. Only the lowest category room is available for points (35000)! Went back and checked and yes, cert could book the suite but points can't! Bummer because I have another cert that expires 3 weeks before our stay. Don't suppose anyone has had any luck extending a cert?
I guess I will see whether they put us in the suite and whether they let us stay in the suite for our last night
Just a last note, I know they still have us booked into the suite because there are only 2 of them and only one remains available for our first two nights but both are available for the last night

s0ssos

If you're done booking can you tell us the name of the hotel?