ForbesHall

To my surprise this morning, I received an email from the Element Minneapolis with my hotel bill. I was surprised because I wasn't in Minneapolis last night and the hotel bill included all my info (Name, Address, email, and Bonvoy number). The room was also charged to the primary credit card on my Bonvoy account. It showed someone checking in and out so this wasn't a no-show situation. I called the hotel and the first person I talked to said they couldn't help me and to call back on Monday to speak with the GM. Thankfully 15 minutes later a different front desk employee called me back to inquire about the situation and gave me the GM's contact info. About 30 minutes later I received a new hotel bill with my credit card taken off the room.

I stayed at this hotel back in August 2021 so I guess somehow that information was still in their system. How does a situation like this happen? Can an employee pull up an old reservation and use that to make a new reservation along with charging my card without swiping it when checking in?

platbrownguy

Possibilities:

1. Someone got a hold of your Bonvoy account and password and went for it. (Unlikely but not implausible; unlikely because there are far more lucrative uses of your data than an overnight at an Element.)

2. The hotel made a reservation using your prior info -- essentially 0% likely imo.

3. Someone with your name or a very similar name checked in, and the hotel offered to find their Bonvoy account and attach it to earn points, and the hotel attached your Bonvoy account by mistake. If you have a common-ish name, this would be my guess for most plausible.

No need to swipe the card on file for stays, so I would remove that from the list of things that matter. Hopefully you get a resolution from the GM -- if this was their mistake they should tell you and apologize profusely. If not, then you should change your Bonvoy and other passwords and your card on file with your Bonvoy account.

Lefleur

Be careful. Perhaps worth checking your credit. Know someone who had their identity stolen and discovered because of hotel stays. Has been a disaster to resolve for them. In their case someone has been opening hotel CCs in their name...different situation, but still worth checking into.....presumably the person had to show ID or CC to check in, baring your name...even if it was an "attached to the wrong Bonvoy number" situation....

Do you have a super, super common name?