Happy thanksgiving- I just made the most expensive mistake ever UPDATE: GM was a *
 

I used my recently aquired 48,000 Wyndham Reward points to book (what I thought) was a three night stay Nov 22-25 in New York City Wingate by Wyndham. So I arrive really early today on Thanksgiving to see if I can check in. Nope. Not because it is too early. Because my reservations were for OCTOBER 22-25!!! Front desk says I can book the three nights for cash for ~$1300.

Wyndham Rewards does not open until 9AM, at least on a normal day. Today is Thanksgiving.... I do not have the money for this hotel, doubt I even have the money for a hotel anywhere in this area! and I have family flying in from another country at 3PM.

WOWWW MAJOR FAIL.

Do you think begging them on the phone come 9AM will get my stays rebooked? What do you think? Would love to hear some responses asap, I am sitting in the hotel business lounge waiting patiently until 9AM. I messed up so bad. I traveled here 8 hours by bus to meet my family... wow... wow. wow. Maybe because it is Thanksgiving they will find it in their heart to rebook for me :( I know I even posted here on this forum that I had this stay coming up. Will keep this board updated.

Looking at my options worst case scenerio, can book (1) night stay for 25,000 United miles... checking to see if there is anything left on the pointbreaks list. Yuck. I cannot believe this. I won't blame anybody but myself, but it would have helped if I could see the reservation when logging into WyndhamRewards.com!! :'(

** I guess the general manager comes in in an hour. I hope he can do something, although front desk said that it is Wyndham Rewards that does all the point stays. This hotel was already "paid" for my 48,000 points in no show stays, maybe he will consider comp-ing the room? :/

Happy thanksgiving- I just made the most expensive mistake ever
 

General manager fixed it. Good guy, gave us the 18th (top) floor. Great!! Now to take a quick nap and then try to hit up the Macy's day parade!

I would suggest you find a really nice gift for that manager, or even a substantial tip. He worked a miracle for you, especially in New York.

On another note, don't you receive your confirmations for your reservations via email? If not you probably should rather than spend 8 hours on a bus to discover you booked the wrong month. Not a rant, just a suggestion.

Good hotel. Stayed there two weeks ago. If you have a late flight out on check out day, they'll hold your bags behind the front desk for free--some New York hotels charge for that service. And plenty of those other hotels charge for the breakfast and wifi that the Wingate provides for free.

Not too surprised about the cash price you were quoted. For me, the Wyndham program is worth it for the opportunity to use the points at this hotel. I'm sure it won't stay 16K forever, but I'll enjoy it while I can.

This redemption and three 9K Avios redemptions on AA from my home airport turned a trip that could have cost $2000 for flights and hotels into $15 in fees for my flights. Plenty of money left over for Broadway shows, fine dining, and shopping.

Unbelievably nice thing for the manager to have done.

Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for sharing a nice story.

A big thumbs up for the manager. After so many bad result threads on FT, it's great to see a happy story.

Nice happy story to hear.

WOW! That's was very nice of the manager! Happy Thanks Giving!

Makes your blood run cold
 

OWWWWWWWWW! This is the kind of error that makes your blood run cold. I was of two minds reading your initial post, Mauibaby. One was horror and sympathy but the other was absolute surety that someone would help you if you JUST ASKED NICELY. Bursting into tears wouldn't hurt either! I must admit that I thought you might be spending the long weekend somewhere in New Jersey, however! Doubtful the points desk would ever open on Thanksgiving, so I knew you were at the mercy of the hotel management. I think alot of people forget that 99% of hotel staff work in hospitality because they .... like people! And they truly do want their guests to be happy.

GOOD WORK! I hope your stay was fabulous and please do take the previous advice to come up with a really nice gift to that GM. Plus, do what I've learned to do in the last few years ... develop a system so that every single email confirming ANYTHING gets read carefully and put in a calendar some place. I don't "save" the confirming email until I've scrutinized it and recorded the info on my calendar.

I'm glad this story had a happy ending. Lesson learned I suppose. Wyndham continues to surprise me.

Yeah, get a nice gift. :)