Author Topic: CCI 2015 Guide to getting a Downtown Hotel Room (Travel Planners Hotel Lottery)  (Read 91107 times)

Offline Transmute Jun

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I always check that option for the upgraded room. I have never once received an upgrade offer.

Offline retired

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I always check that option for the upgraded room. I have never once received an upgrade offer.


thats cause your too fast!

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Offline TardisMom

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Last year we submitted 4 forms and one didn't get processed.  All had the upgrade option checked.  For the second submitted, but we didn't hear anything from TP while the other three got our first choice, the MGH.  I called and they found the form and sent the reply email, also for the MGH but with an upgraded room for $900ish/night (as I recall).  So it was an upgrade at a REALLY upgraded price. 

Offline semigeekgirl

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Yeah, I'm afraid to check the upgrade option for fear they book me into a $700 suite at the Hilton or something, and then I can't get a waitlist hotel b/c I turned down the one I got. TP prices for the downtown hotels are already basically as much as I can justify spending.

Offline Violet

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I was browsing through the 2014 Hotel thread, and I noticed that some people's reservations were getting cancelled as duplicates because other people had listed them as an occupant. There's 4 of us, so should I only list myself as an occupant and leave the other fields blank if those people will also be submitting a request? And then have each of them only list themselves as an occupant in their requests? What do you Hotelpocalypse veterans usually do?

Offline Az_Rael

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I was browsing through the 2014 Hotel thread, and I noticed that some people's reservations were getting cancelled as duplicates because other people had listed them as an occupant. There's 4 of us, so should I only list myself as an occupant and leave the other fields blank if those people will also be submitting a request? And then have each of them only list themselves as an occupant in their requests? What do you Hotelpocalypse veterans usually do?

Don't leave them blank - use fake names.   Just try and keep the names resonable, so no joke names that they might flag as being fake. (I did short generic names like Sue or Ed so they would be quicker to type).    Once you get an actual reservation, you can log into travel planners website and change the other occupant names to the real ones.   

Offline frostywontons

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I was browsing through the 2014 Hotel thread, and I noticed that some people's reservations were getting cancelled as duplicates because other people had listed them as an occupant. There's 4 of us, so should I only list myself as an occupant and leave the other fields blank if those people will also be submitting a request? And then have each of them only list themselves as an occupant in their requests? What do you Hotelpocalypse veterans usually do?

I vaguely remember this being answered elsewhere on this forum. I believe the gist is that you only need to put your name since you can amend the reservation at a later date.

Offline semigeekgirl

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Don't leave them blank - use fake names.   Just try and keep the names resonable, so no joke names that they might flag as being fake. (I did short generic names like Sue or Ed so they would be quicker to type).    Once you get an actual reservation, you can log into travel planners website and change the other occupant names to the real ones.

I always put a fake name, just b/c I'm paranoid about the room occupancy being correct. But my husband and I don't share a last name, so on mine I put Mr. and Mrs. Semigeekgirl, and on his I put Mr. and Mrs. Semigeekboy. I did have duplicate names rejected once (in a year I was booking multiple rooms for a  masquerade group), so if you decide to put something, don't use the same name twice.

Offline catvonawesome

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First off, thank you so much for this! Even having been through it before, this is a great refresher, and will be awesome for the two newbies in our group!

Quote
Don't leave them blank - use fake names

In our group, we've always just put one name on our room requests and added occupant names later. Usually at the hotel.  This year, we're requesting two rooms, so if duplicate names get rejected, I guess we need to come up with a new plan so no one is putting the same two names in. Ie, I don't want to put my SO's name on the second room and have both our requests cancelled out for duplicate names.  How have people in groups handled multiple room requests before? I've never had to request more than one room before.
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Offline angoradebs

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I was browsing through the 2014 Hotel thread, and I noticed that some people's reservations were getting cancelled as duplicates because other people had listed them as an occupant. There's 4 of us, so should I only list myself as an occupant and leave the other fields blank if those people will also be submitting a request? And then have each of them only list themselves as an occupant in their requests? What do you Hotelpocalypse veterans usually do?

How is this even possible? How does TP know that it's a duplicate and not just someone with the same name?

Offline Zero

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How is this even possible? How does TP know that it's a duplicate and not just someone with the same name?

Honestly, those of us who experienced the hotel lottery aren't even sure why they would simply purge (or delete) duplicate names without checking the addresses or contact information first.  As far as I'm aware, Travel Planners based their criteria on seeing accounts with the same name for last year's situation.  It isn't clear on whether or not Travel Planners has found a way internally to address this, and unfortunately, we won't know for sure until after the hotel lottery date and the rooms are assigned to people.
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Offline angoradebs

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Honestly, those of us who experienced the hotel lottery aren't even sure why they would simply purge (or delete) duplicate names without checking the addresses or contact information first.  As far as I'm aware, Travel Planners based their criteria on seeing accounts with the same name for last year's situation.  It isn't clear on whether or not Travel Planners has found a way internally to address this, and unfortunately, we won't know for sure until after the hotel lottery date and the rooms are assigned to people.

I had no idea this was even a possibility. I'm glad I read this thread. I'll let my roommates know to just put their names and leave the rest blank (we all share the same first name so our submissions might have been suspicious anyway). I mean, you could use fake names that happen to be someone's real names and then those real people could get their submissions rejected? I also guess I just don't get why TP would delete duplicates anyway. If a group of 4 people are all trying for one room, and they each get a room, they will only use one and will release the rest (or give them to other people). It's not like the rooms go to waste.

Offline Zero

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I had no idea this was even a possibility. I'm glad I read this thread. I'll let my roommates know to just put their names and leave the rest blank (we all share the same first name so our submissions might have been suspicious anyway). I mean, you could use fake names that happen to be someone's real names and then those real people could get their submissions rejected? I also guess I just don't get why TP would delete duplicates anyway. If a group of 4 people are all trying for one room, and they each get a room, they will only use one and will release the rest (or give them to other people). It's not like the rooms go to waste.

It might even be an automatic setting for the Travel Planners hotel reservation system to purge (or delete) the duplicate names, so it may not be the actual customer service representatives doing it either.  All in all, we won't know for sure until after the fact.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2015, 06:35:56 PM by Zero »
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Offline Devorah

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I had no idea this was even a possibility. I'm glad I read this thread. I'll let my roommates know to just put their names and leave the rest blank (we all share the same first name so our submissions might have been suspicious anyway).

Pretty sure you *have* to fill in all the names.  If you pick a double you must enter two names, triple three names etc.  Anyone remember for sure?

Offline Zero

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Pretty sure you *have* to fill in all the names.  If you pick a double you must enter two names, triple three names etc.  Anyone remember for sure?

Actually, yes... I feel like that was one of the requirements on the hotel lottery form.  Let me do a little research on it from last year's threads on the forums. ^__^;
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