calypso726
Escaping reality one Disney vacation at a time
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2006
Good morning Churner Peeps! Today I bring you a brand new episode of Crazy things that happen to Calypso on vacation. Let's recap: Last year brought us the flight cancellations in NYC due to a sudden winter storm and scrambling to get a flight out at 6 am and not much sleep to get back home. Then there was the flight cancellation in Scotland that forced us to take a 6.5 hour Uber to London so we wouldn't miss our flight home. That was followed by the 3 day Bahamas & Castaway Cay DCL cruise during Hurricane Dorian that turned into a 6 night Western Caribbean cruise because we couldn't get back. We ended the year with cutting a vacation in Japan 2 days short to escape a super Typhoon with no flight changes available and booking the first flights we could make out of Japan which were to Shanghai and then New York staying overnight and another flight the next day to Miami for just under $10,000 and crossing our fingers that trip insurance would cover it all.
Starting this year's adventures:
Last November we booked a stay for an IHG property for this weekend in Key West using our last unrestricted FN certs. On our 4 hour drive to Key West last night we decided to call the hotel and ask if they can combine our separate reservations so we didn't have to check in and out. The hotel informs us that there is no reservation for tonight 1/25 just for last night 1/24. The reservation number we gave for tonight was attached to a stay on 11/25/19 and was a no show. It is clear at this point that the IHG agent made a typo when booking our reservation. The hotel informed us that there is availability for this evening 1/25 but we'd need to call IHG to do it sine they can't on their end as the FN cert was forfeited. The first person we spoke to at IHG was either willfully obtuse or simply lacked listening, comprehension and critical thinking skills to a degree that was quite impressive. It was like the Abott & Costello Who's on First skit but not nearly as funny and entertaining.
I politely asked to speak with a manager or supervisor and get routed to guest relations. This agent informed us that there was nothing he could do about the FN cert that was applied last November but he'd call the hotel and book with points and then refund the points. This seems fine to me. When he gets back on the line he informs me that the front desk manager at the hotel says they are completely sold out and there is no availability at all. At this point we are 2 hours into the drive and I tell PlanePrincess to turn the car around. I explained to the agent that I was not going to drive an additional 2 hours, getting there after 10 pm to simply go to bed, wake up, check out and go home. The agent asks me to hold on the line and he would see what he could do to make this right. When he finally gets back on the line and we are negotiating the call drops. I try calling back but am routed to a different agent and there's no way to get me directly back with the one I was speaking with.
The new agent after being informed of the situation and reading notes sends me to another agent. This guy is supposedly the one to deal with the FN certs. After about an hour with him, he tells us there is nothing he can do. My FN cert is now forfeit too since we are past cancellation for the hotel and PlanePrincess FN cert was forfeit last November due to the no show. He then says he will send me back to the agent I spoke with before him. The next agent is not the same one and I go on to explain everything to her. To her credit she seems quite empathetic like the second agent. She said the hold time on the phone would be a while, but she had to get management from another department involved but would do everything she could. I told her I appreciated whatever she could do and would wait. At this point we are parked at the Publix a couple of blocks from my house since I don't want the call to drop. My neighborhood is basically where cell signals go to die. Long story short, she was able to put back both of our unrestricted FN certs but sadly unable to extend the expiration date or add additional points. After being in the car for well over 4 hours, on the phone for 3 1/2 hours and speaking with 5 different agents, I was done and just happy to have something resolved.
When we got home I decided to see if the FN cert glitch was still in play and just get 70k points in each of our accounts so I called to book a weekend at the Willard in DC which most of you know I absolutely love! Whelp, the glitch must have been fixed because they were able to attach the FN certs. I still don't know if we are actually going. It will depend on getting that weekend off from work and I guess the flights. If it doesn't work out, I will figure out something else. No biggie. Honestly, I'm just glad this happened for a planned weekend here in Florida.
My original plan for these FN certs was French Polynesia, but that plan got derailed when ABD announced Japan so I switched gears.
So, instead of riding around on PlanePrincess' One Wheel in Key West, I'm home doing
Lesson learned: Double and triple check reservation confirmations
Starting this year's adventures:
Last November we booked a stay for an IHG property for this weekend in Key West using our last unrestricted FN certs. On our 4 hour drive to Key West last night we decided to call the hotel and ask if they can combine our separate reservations so we didn't have to check in and out. The hotel informs us that there is no reservation for tonight 1/25 just for last night 1/24. The reservation number we gave for tonight was attached to a stay on 11/25/19 and was a no show. It is clear at this point that the IHG agent made a typo when booking our reservation. The hotel informed us that there is availability for this evening 1/25 but we'd need to call IHG to do it sine they can't on their end as the FN cert was forfeited. The first person we spoke to at IHG was either willfully obtuse or simply lacked listening, comprehension and critical thinking skills to a degree that was quite impressive. It was like the Abott & Costello Who's on First skit but not nearly as funny and entertaining.
I politely asked to speak with a manager or supervisor and get routed to guest relations. This agent informed us that there was nothing he could do about the FN cert that was applied last November but he'd call the hotel and book with points and then refund the points. This seems fine to me. When he gets back on the line he informs me that the front desk manager at the hotel says they are completely sold out and there is no availability at all. At this point we are 2 hours into the drive and I tell PlanePrincess to turn the car around. I explained to the agent that I was not going to drive an additional 2 hours, getting there after 10 pm to simply go to bed, wake up, check out and go home. The agent asks me to hold on the line and he would see what he could do to make this right. When he finally gets back on the line and we are negotiating the call drops. I try calling back but am routed to a different agent and there's no way to get me directly back with the one I was speaking with.
The new agent after being informed of the situation and reading notes sends me to another agent. This guy is supposedly the one to deal with the FN certs. After about an hour with him, he tells us there is nothing he can do. My FN cert is now forfeit too since we are past cancellation for the hotel and PlanePrincess FN cert was forfeit last November due to the no show. He then says he will send me back to the agent I spoke with before him. The next agent is not the same one and I go on to explain everything to her. To her credit she seems quite empathetic like the second agent. She said the hold time on the phone would be a while, but she had to get management from another department involved but would do everything she could. I told her I appreciated whatever she could do and would wait. At this point we are parked at the Publix a couple of blocks from my house since I don't want the call to drop. My neighborhood is basically where cell signals go to die. Long story short, she was able to put back both of our unrestricted FN certs but sadly unable to extend the expiration date or add additional points. After being in the car for well over 4 hours, on the phone for 3 1/2 hours and speaking with 5 different agents, I was done and just happy to have something resolved.
When we got home I decided to see if the FN cert glitch was still in play and just get 70k points in each of our accounts so I called to book a weekend at the Willard in DC which most of you know I absolutely love! Whelp, the glitch must have been fixed because they were able to attach the FN certs. I still don't know if we are actually going. It will depend on getting that weekend off from work and I guess the flights. If it doesn't work out, I will figure out something else. No biggie. Honestly, I'm just glad this happened for a planned weekend here in Florida.
My original plan for these FN certs was French Polynesia, but that plan got derailed when ABD announced Japan so I switched gears.
So, instead of riding around on PlanePrincess' One Wheel in Key West, I'm home doing
Lesson learned: Double and triple check reservation confirmations
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. For some strange reason he thinks the links cost him money and he doesn't understand the value in MRs or referrals, nor does he care to learn. So sadly I've given up asking for a referral link.
