Travelocity's hotel booking process is dishonestly designed - and that's putting it mildly! It's possible to go all the way to the confirmation page (after paying) and still think you have booked 4 people in a room at a hotel that allows up to 4 in one room. We booked 4 into one room at the Holiday Inn King's Cross London through them. They sent a confirmation email that showed 4 in one room, and that the 'max persons per room' was 4. So far so good. However, in that email was also a line about how their 'GoodBuys' rate was only for 'double occupancy' and it defined this rate as '2 people per room'. It went on to say (paraphrased) 'you may be charged additionally for extra persons and these funds are due directly to the hotel'. The thing is: I called Travelocity BEFORE actually making this reservation and asked if indeed we could all stay in one room at this hotel without paying any more to the hotel (or anyone) after paying on their website. They told me that 4 in the room would be ok and that no additional payment to anyone would be required. WRONG!
I make the booking, read their email, call Travelocity again and get a second rep - this one calls the hotel in London and, yes, this second Travelocity rep says, you will need to come up with an additional 480 British Pounds right at the front desk! This doubled the rate on the Travelocity website. I called the hotel myself and found that the reservation was only for 2 people, not 4 as I had specified. I then called the Holiday Inn toll-free number in the US and was able to book the same room, at the same rate, for 4 people in one room, with a guarantee from the hotel chain that there would be no additional charges! I made that booking and called the actual hotel again and checked with them: this time my reservation was indeed for 4 in one room, and they confirmed that they wouldn't want any money from us once we got there! I called Travelocity back to cancel my original reservation and their rep said that they can cancel it, but that the onerous 100% penalty would apply! This amount was $1,120! I got a manager on the phone and after forcefully laying out my case (I had also started the dispute process about this payment with my credit card), she agreed to refund the amount minus a $25 penalty. A victory to be sure, but I am still going to dispute this and any amount paid to Travelocity and hope to get all my money back from this dishonest website.
As a final note, after conceding that I deserved a refund (minus the $25) and cancelling the reservation made through them, they actually sent us an email confirming the cancelation, and showing the 100% penalty! What organization! We had to call them back and ask about that email, and ask for one showing the actual penalty. That email never did come but at least their computer shows that we will receive almost all our money back (and we'll fight them for every penny). If you've read this far here's the moral: don't use Travelocity. Any company that allows such a dishonest design in a system to persist like theirs doesn't deserve your business.
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