News and notes from around the interweb:
- The Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Elko, Nevada has a “12.95 energy recovery fee plus 3% credit card surcharge.” Surely Chase isn’t going to be ok with IHG hotels charging extra to pay with their co-brand card.
I would not stay in a hotel that does not consider its room rate to include electricity. The first private electric system was installed in 1878 – in Thomas Edison’s home. The first New York residence with electricity belonged to J.P. Morgan. It is not 1883 anymore.
- We’re supposed to feel bad for flight attendants with hard jobs and low pay but pay is really only low at entry-level. For some it’s a good career that doesn’t have to mean a college degree. For others it’s an adventure for a couple of years. And there are plenty of people lining up for these jobs at current pay rates. Yet we get stories about how they pick up side jobs at strip clubs.
Why is it there’s so much less discourse about those contract Prospect employees pushing wheelchairs at the airport, earning so much less? Flight attendants know, here’s one doing an act of kindness buying Starbucks for those folks meeting their flight.
- Marriott announces that they’ll offer elite status soft landings for next year – the worst you’ll have is one level lower than your status this year (of course you will have a higher status than that if you earn it). (HT: One Mile at a Time)
- JetBlue founder Dave Neeleman says the airline missed out on an opportunity to buy widebodies to fly transatlantic and that they could have sent some to the Caribbean in the winter. I am skeptical.
- Australia’s prime minister has been getting free upgrades from Qantas for years dating back to when he was in charge of the Labor party’s aviation policy. He says it’s no big deal because he’s disclosed the gifts. (He did not disclose the invitation-only Chairmans Club membership given to his 23-year old son arguing that he isn’t a dependent even though he ‘lives at home’ so such disclosure wasn’t required.)
Of course Qantas has received gifts from the Albanese government too.
If electricity isn’t included, there’s literally no way to be shocked.
Modern hotel chains disgust me. There is no hospitality anymore. The world is going to complete crap.
What doesn’t surprise me about any IHG property? After my lousy experience in London at their Kensington Station property and the complete lack of customer service when I politely (I DID…REALLY!) complained, this wouldn’t surprise me. I cut up my IHG credit card, moved my 400,000 points to another source and told them to “kiss my grits”. Years ago, I stayed at a Best Western property in Connecticut. When I went to check out, there was a $5.00 “safe charge” on my folio. I told the clerk that I wasn’t paying it. It wasn’t shown on my booking. “We charge that to everyone.” EH…well not this one. AMEX stood by me, too!
The Holiday Inn Express in Durango, Colorado charges a similar green energy recovery fee.
The Westin Houston Medical Center/Museum District in Houston, Texas charged a historic preservation fee that was actually meant to recoup their renovations.
The HEI-managed Westin in Fort Lauderdale charged guests a service fee if they paid using a Marriott credit card.
For the last 20+ years it has not been unusual to find “environmental”, “energy”, “water” and “waste” charges on Nordic hotel bills. In one trip to Stockholm (and I still have the paper receipt from checkout) the fees added up to within a few dollars of my nightly room fee (and this was not a sleep cheap hotel). Included were: environmental, electricity, water, key card, in room telephone, in room clock, in room television, internet, cable tv, liquid waste fee, solid waste fee, linens, and wake up service) – some of these I did not use in the 14 hours from check-in to check out and the internet and cable service did not work.
Expect even more unbundled charges. Not less.
Great way to destroy your hotel business by charging stupid fees.
IHG must cancel the franchise agreement with the hotel owner if they want to salvage the image of Holiday Inn. Reversing the charges is not enough. Travelers must be confident they won’t be scammed if they book a Holiday Inn stay. This hotel owner must go.
I’m not sure why a job as a stripper would be considered a good side job for a flight attendant because the loss of the flight attendant job could happen if the situation is discovered. The money is good but…
It’s getting even better I received a daily toilet flush charge fee though it’s good for unlimited flushes
A small counterpoint to the 3% upcharge which some businesses are adding for CC payments: I took my car to a Hyundai dealership a few months back for some repair. At the check-out, I proffered my usual CC, and the service advisor/cashier politely asked if I had a debit card I might prefer to use to SAVE the upcharge! Wow, I did, and was grateful for this very customer forward experience.
I’ve stayed in that particular Holiday Inn Express. Elko is 4 hours driving from Reno or SLC. Elko is not really a destination, but a lot of people travel along I-80. After driving 12-14 hours across the desert, who is going to challenge any fees the hotel wants to tack on? You won’t walk away; you just want to get to bed.