TRAVELOCITY Price Guarantee is a joke.
I booked a roundtrip air and hotel package for my daughter on January 21, 2010 at a price of $1420.77. On February 16, 2010 I returned to the Travelocity website to check recent prices and found that the identical trip was now selling for only $1308.73. I figured this was a slam-dunk case for their Price Guarantee, but to my surprise it wasnt! It seems that in the fine print they have numerous dates that your trip must fit within, so be forewarned to read ALL their fine print prior to feeling warm and fuzzy about the trip you just booked.
Below you will find a Copy/Paste of their infamous Price Guarantee taken directly from their website on (Feb. 21,2010) the date this is being posted:
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TRAVELOCITY PRICE and SERVICE GUARANTEE
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Terms and conditions:
WHAT IS THE TRAVELOCITY PRICE AND SERVICE GUARANTEE?
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Please refer to item #2 in the Price Guarantee. My daughters trip has a scheduled departure date of June 5, 2010 so I realized that I wasnt deserving of the $50 Promo Code. The next bullet though, which clearly has no date stipulations, states that I should receive the difference between the price I paid and the lower rate.
Judge for yourself, but I feel that I was mislead and done an injustice. Next time I choose to travel it will not be through Travelocity.com!
Stuckjg
Littleton,#2Author of original report
Tue, March 02, 2010
The following is taken from an email that I just received from Travelocity:
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Thank you for submitting your request to Travelocitys Price and Service Guarantee Program. We received your request for a refund in the amount of $112.04, and we were able to validate the price difference. We have gone ahead and processed a request for this amount, and a credit of $112.04 will be posted to your original form of payment within 30 days of Jun-05th'2010, the first day of your scheduled trip. Your $50 Promo Code will be e-mailed to you within 7 days after the refund has been posted.
Please note the booking and the departure date criteria has now changed. As per the new changes, vacation packages booked by April'30th' 2010 with departure date of July 31st'2010, qualify for Price and Service Guarantee.
We appreciate your business and look forward to providing your future travel needs.
Sincerely,
The Price and Service Guarantee Team
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Thank you Travelocity.
Stuckjg
Littleton,#3Author of original report
Wed, February 24, 2010
PezGirl, I am glad
that you are so exuberant in your defense of such a poorly prepared document
and use of bullets. Personally, it scares me to think of what other fine
print I may find if I encounter any one of the other 9 Situations Covered by
the Travelocity Guarantee.
By the way, this is not a promotion, this an ongoing technique which limits credits and refunds, but still invokes a feel good guarantee to the buyer during the booking process. Travelocity must just hope that you never feel the need to pursue any of their guarantees.
If you were to reference their Situations Covered by the Travelocity Guarantee page, youd find this statement:
If you find a qualifying lower rate than the one you booked on Travelocity and complete the guarantee form in a timely manner well not only refund you the difference between what you paid and this lower price, but give you $50 off a purchase of future travel.
Sure, you may say qualifying lower rate, but if the same flight numbers, on the exact same dates, and the exact same hotel package (even found on the Travelocity website!) does not qualify, then I label it a gimmick.
Im sorry, but if a company has to resort to convoluted fine print, then I will continue to search for one that does not.
PezGirl, I am glad
that you are so exuberant in your defense of such a poorly prepared document
and use of bullets. Personally, it scares me to think of what other fine
print I may find if I encounter any one of the other 9 Situations Covered by
the Travelocity Guarantee.
By the way, this is not a promotion, this an ongoing technique which limits credits and refunds, but still invokes a feel good guarantee to the buyer during the booking process. Travelocity must just hope that you never feel the need to pursue any of their guarantees.
If you were to reference their Situations Covered by the Travelocity Guarantee page, youd find this statement:
If you find a qualifying lower rate than the one you booked on Travelocity and complete the guarantee form in a timely manner well not only refund you the difference between what you paid and this lower price, but give you $50 off a purchase of future travel.
Sure, you may say qualifying lower rate, but if the same flight numbers, on the exact same dates, and the exact same hotel package (even found on the Travelocity website!) does not qualify, then I label it a gimmick.
Im sorry, but if a company has to resort to convoluted fine print, then I will continue to search for one that does not.
PezGirl
United States of America#4Consumer Comment
Wed, February 24, 2010
If your issue is specifically with section 2, note that the two bullets underneath are actually connected with the word and at the end of bullet 1, meaning both requirements must be met. Therefore, your daughter's departure date would not fall under the promotion.
Stuckjg
Littleton,#5Author of original report
Sun, February 21, 2010
Yes Jlynn, the identical flights/flight numbers, identical dates and identical Hotel. The lower price was even found on travelocity.com so it would be simple for them to verify.
Jlynn
Somewhere,#6Consumer Suggestion
Sun, February 21, 2010
I just have one question about the 2nd package you saw online....were the flights and hotel exactly the same as the package you actually booked? If not, then it wouldn't quality for the Price Guarantee.
No....I don't work for Travelocity, it was just a question.