Nice try Courtyard (by Marriot+)

[BackInTex]

Back in September I decided that my wife and I would travel to Clemson, SC for A&M's football game against Clemson this coming September.

Marriott did not open up reservations for that date (9/6 & 9/7) until sometime in October or November, but I was checking everyday. The day they opened up I booked our room at the Courtyard in Clemson for two night at $132 per night. That is a steal in a small college town on a football game weekend, let alone for this football game. Marriott had obviously not tagged the dates as "event dates". My cancellation terms were also "cancel by xxxx" whatever 2 weeks prior was.

I checked in January or so for rooms and they were going for over $300 night.

Today I got a phone message from their reservation folks to give them a call about my reservation. They said they were significantly over booked and offering member at all levels (I'm Gold) an incentive to change their dates. I told her I already had my game tickets, my plane tickets, and my hotel room. I'm not changing my reservation. But out curiosity I wanted to know what the incentive was.

The incentive was a whooping $150 gift card OR 50,000 reward points. Swing and miss! Nice try.

Oh, and when I look at my reservation on line the cancellation policy says 99 days before, and the room must be prepaid. I told her I hadn't paid yet but didn't care about the cancellation policy because I'm going. She said I could still pay when I arrive.