We made a last-minute decision to head to Jacksonville for 2011 New Year’s Eve. Hubby has several points as a Hilton Honors member and it turned out we could cash some in for one free night. I may have mentioned before we often travel with our pets, and turns out the Hampton Inn in Jacksonville’s Tinseltown takes pets – without a pet fee! Great news!
Except that when I made the reservation at around 7 p.m. EST on Dec. 30, Hilton Honors’ system auto-populated the arrival date of Dec. 30, not 31. Really? Who would think?
Of course when we arrived to check in on Dec. 31, the hotel clerk told us the points were gone and we’d have to pay for our entire stay now. So my husband was unhappy with me, and I was unhappy with me for my careless mistake. (Lesson learned: double- and triple-check dates when booking anything online.)
However, I was mostly very unhappy with Hilton. Until that moment I was thrilled with them–great location, highly pet-friendly, and immaculate cleanliness. We did a quick check online and learned the best way to resolve the issue was to call customer support, which my husband did.
He applied the ‘honesty is the best policy’ approach and admitted we goofed when making the reservation. He also pointed out the illogic of making a reservation five hours before the day ends and showing up the next day to check in. Within about five minutes, the Hilton Honors staff restored his points, and while we had budgeted for one night free, at a $79 rate ($89 with taxes), we still had a good deal.
Truly a lovely hotel and one of the cleanest I’ve stayed at in quite some time. I highly recommend it, and Tinseltown is a fun location. Lots of restaurants and a movie theater all within walking distance, 10 minutes in a couple directions to great shopping, and 20 minutes to the beach.
Rewards programs are helpful for people like us who enjoy travel on a budget. Track the points and take advantage of them. Just be extra-careful about data entry when you book online.
