Hotels, promotional codes, and less-than-authorized uses.

January 30, 2006 2:48 PM

Hotels, promotional codes, and less-than-authorized uses.

I have planned a trip to a lovely tropical destination, and as I was about to book my room at a $600/night resort, I decided to play around with the "Promotional Code" field of the reservation platform. After a few guesses, I was able to stumble upon the "GENERAL ELECTRIC RATE," which represents a substantial discount from the regular rate.

As far as I can tell, I never claimed to be an agent, employee, or affiliate of GE-- I simply fed the machine a promotional code that gave me the GE rate. I found nothing specific addressing this in the TOS, just the usual vague disclaimers.

How can this possibly come back to bite me in the arse? Should I be concerned? What else should I do?

posted by Kwantsar to travel & transportation (17 answers total)

The worst that can happen is that you are challenged for identification, you lose, and you are charged the full rate, which could be even more than $600/night.

I suggest that, should you be challenged, you develop a plausible story as to how you got that rate, enough to convince a desk clerk not to go snooping. Quick, find a friend that works for General Electric.
posted by frogan at 2:54 PM on January 30, 2006

Many large firms negotiate corporate rates with hotel chains, many of which have resorts at lovely tropical locations. The way that employees book rooms at these hotels (usually for legitimate business reasons, but often not), is to provide the promotional code for that corporate rate.

I've always been asked for proof at check in that I am entitled to that rate - a corporate charge card, business card, and once a letter on relevant corporate stationery stating that I was entitled to use that company's negotiated discount. I've never tried it, but I imagine that you would get bumped to the normal rate if you couldn't provide such proof.
posted by darsh at 2:54 PM on January 30, 2006

Just as a counter-example -- I've received discounted corporate hotel rates many times as well, but have *never* been asked for any proof. I should note, though, that this travel was arranged through a corporate travel agency; I never had to enter any kind of discount code anywhere.
posted by TonyRobots at 2:58 PM on January 30, 2006

I know someone who has been claiming the "IBM Rate" for 30 years or so and he claims never to have been called out on it at places that do, in fact, offer a special discount for IBMers.

He does look good in a suit.
posted by meehawl at 3:04 PM on January 30, 2006

I do this sometimes - if you're booking with the hotel directly, the front desk (unless it's a GM) generally doesn't care one way or another. I used the IBM rate-game last week because I was in a city that a) had a shortage of hotel rooms and b) didn't have anything affordable anywhere near where I needed to stay.

If someone asks me about it, I usually tell them I'm a consultant and have no way to prove it. I've never been denied the rate, but I have been told once or twice "next time, get us some proof, willya?" and I nodded. The key to this is that you have to be willing to pay the bumped up rate if they call your bluff.

It's not just IBM. Lowe's has a deal with Sheraton, for example.

Don't go doing it every time, y'all, or you'll screw up the whole system. :-)
posted by TeamBilly at 3:33 PM on January 30, 2006

I've always been asked for proof at check in that I am entitled to that rate - a corporate charge card, business card, and once a letter on relevant corporate stationery stating that I was entitled to use that company's negotiated discount.

same here.

The key to this is that you have to be willing to pay the bumped up rate if they call your bluff.

this is very good advice.
posted by matteo at 3:43 PM on January 30, 2006

If you're in anything more formal than street clothes (and are old enough to have a job) the "government rate" almost always works at cheaper hotels.
posted by tiamat at 4:05 PM on January 30, 2006

A $600 resort is also going to be a bit more concerned about people exploiting the rate. Even more so if you don't look the part of the normal General Electric visitor.
posted by smackfu at 4:06 PM on January 30, 2006

MeTa, in case anyone's interested.

Nothing personal, Kwantsar. I'm perfectly willing to be persuaded that I'm wrong here, but I just don't get it yet.
posted by aberrant at 5:29 PM on January 30, 2006

"How can this possibly come back to bite me in the arse?"

By posting your question using your user name (rather than anonymously) to one of the most widely read web sites in the world?
posted by Effigy2000 at 5:40 PM on January 30, 2006

This is only tangential but you might find it interesting... GE is probably happy that you used their code. They want their bill at a given hotel to be higher. The more they spend, the better the rate they can negotiate.

I've also seen corporate discount plans where the rate the employees see (and pay) isn't really what the company pays. Per the contract, the company gets a percentage of spending back at the end of the year. GE would be even happier in that situation, since they would get something for nothing.
posted by smackfu at 6:11 PM on January 30, 2006

...and, smackfu, the converse could be true. What if the GE rate were somehow subsidized by the company?
posted by aberrant at 6:22 PM on January 30, 2006

The worst that can happen is that you are challenged for identification, you lose, and you are charged the full rate, which could be even more than $600/night.

Look at the rack rate on the back of the door next time you are in a hotel and weep. You could get charged that. Ouch.

It might also be considered theft or fraud and perhaps you will find yourself a nice room in the local jail. Nothing like being in a foreign jail.
posted by caddis at 6:56 PM on January 30, 2006

Oh, and the rate is not subsidized by the company.
posted by caddis at 6:56 PM on January 30, 2006

Asking for the government rate is risky. If you can prove you're on government business, then the hotel won't charge you occupancy tax but they're going to need to keep some paperwork to satisfy the local government that you're eligible. They might give you the government rate and charge you tax but in that case they're probably just trying to move some rooms.

Some of the hotels I've worked have been incredibly lax about fraud. If they discovered someone was scamming a room using someone else's card, they would simply kick the scumbag out of the hotel. However, I'm guessing that your lovely tropical location is outside of the United States which will raise the stakes.

If the contract between the hotel and GE has a limit on the number of rooms which can be rented at a discount, then you might cause harm to GE by consuming a possibly scarce room.
posted by rdr at 7:53 PM on January 30, 2006

I worked for quite a while at the front desk of a AAA four diamond hotel. I think your success will be totally determined by the percentage of guests who usually check in with a business rate. For example, over half of the guests at my hotel were business guests who booked under a corporate rate (the corporate rates were generally about half of the standard walk-in rate). The walk-in rate was usually half the posted rack rate. (I have never heard of anyone paying the posted rack rate). Anytime I saw a corporate rate, I didn't give it a second thought because half the guests, more or less, were checking in at some business rate.

Our hotel was part of a major chain and had contracts with literally hundreds of corporations. The hotel offers these rates to corporations to entice them to book their travelling employees there. The rate is certainly not subsidized by GE because the expectation is that employees are being reimbursed by GE for their business travels - or most likely putting the whole thing on their corporate card. GE could honestly care less, it's not their money.

I never, not once, asked someone booking under a typical corporate rate for ID. The only people we needed to ID were people booking under the super-low chain-only rate (employees of other hotels within the chain). The employee rate was like 15% of the walk-in rate, so we made sure to ID for that one.

So if you think the hotel generally has a large number of corporate guests - if it's in a major city, for example, I think you can probably get away with it. If you are asked for your business card or something, just say you ran out of them (or whatever). Maybe you could make a reservation at another hotel and if they say you'll have to pay the walk-in rate at the GE hotel, you have another hotel reservation to fall back on. (Of course, cancel the other reservation once you get into the GE hotel.)
posted by peppermint22 at 8:29 PM on January 30, 2006

Being government, I travel on the government rate quite a lot. I often get asked to show my ID in both Canada and the US. Also, government rates usually aren't a huge discount, 10% is typical.
posted by bonehead at 6:40 AM on January 31, 2006