Total Rewards at Planet Hollywood says booking online is cheaper?

After talking to the person who books large groups at Planet Hollywood, she gave significantly higher than what I am finding online. Again, bringing about 50-60 people for my Vegas wedding and she told me she can't match the rates online as they are only allowed to discount 15%.

Is that normal? I suppose I will just be booking online.

Not sure if I posted this under the correct category...?

I reposted this from the wrong category...Sowwy, I'm new

 

50-60 people means what, 25 or so rooms? And she can only discount 15% and not beat the online rates? That's seems absurd to me. What are the dates? Is it a holiday weekend or something?

 

Yep 25 to 30 rooms. They even transferred me 2x to the person who deals with this large of a group. Sept 25 - 28th. No holiday that I know of. I literally pulled the their own sight and the rooms were going for 25% off and she still said even though it was on their site I still couldn't. Online deals were promotions they could only book online. Sounds very absurd

 

Sounds like you got an employee who didn't want to deal with booking 25+ rooms. I assume this means they are not compensated appropriately to do so...they merely passed you off to the site because they probably don't get commission or something of that nature to feel justified in actually booking all those rooms.

Normally someone would salivate at booking a 25 room block.

 

It wouldn't hurt to call a travel agent.

 

Is that not the weekend for I-Heart Radio ?

 

That is actually not unheard of. I used to work for a major chain and we could not give the deals they would get online by "upper management" or the parent company (wyndham) so if it was a big difference i would just tell them to book online or phone into the 1-800 #.

For us it had to do with being independently owned. The parent company would reimburse the difference but could not do it if we did it at desk level.

It is probably different in vegas but i am not sure, the parent company in that case being CET or MLIFE.

 

Would that be true even for 25 rooms?

This seems crazy. If you are having the wedding at PHo, then the wedding planners will discount the rooms more than the website.

 

My guess is it has to do with being a large group like a convention. You won't get good deal on a convention room either. Most rooms they can count on gaming revenue weddings and conventions not so much.

Just a guess.

TomTWI

 

I thought it was always cheaper booking online. Same thing with booking air travel, they always charge a fee for calling unless there is a problem with the website.

 

It could be. I don't think it's officially announced yet. I think could be a different special event that weekend though. Isn't that about the time the bodybuilders come to town?

I think in this situation I would try Total Experiences, assuming they are different than the people you talked to. I wish Boyd had something in its arsenal that was closer to 4 star because they would trip all over themselves for a block like that.

 

Yes, doesn't matter how many rooms because it is the parent company reimbursing the hotel where as if being sold over the phone then the hotel would be out the difference without reimbursment/

 

http://www.totalexperiences.com/totalexperiences/?rd=totalexperiences

I went through this site for a bachelor party last May and LOVED my experience.

 

Mr. Olympia 2014 is 9-18 to 9-21. No future large conventions during OP's scheduled time.

 

Hotels, like airlines, etc often have many different rates.

Right now, the online site appears to have a great "sale". Those are for online bookings. Just the way it is.

Also, if any of the folks in your group have ever played at any CET casino, they may get even better rates, possibly free. Check that out.

Scroll down this page and see the posting about booking large group. You can sometimes get a friends and family rate that is better.

 

That's true for individuals but not necessarily for a large group.

 

What is Boyd??

 

Sorry to "Quote" you twice. I called the 800 number on Planet Hollywood's site and they forwarded to a different 800 number that deals with large groups, actually had to forward me 2 times to get to the person who dealt with this large of a group, Isabell. I thought they said Total Rewards, maybe they actually said Total Experiences now that I'm thinking about it. Would it be the same people or should I try and call again specifically into Total Experiences?
I feel drunk....and I'm not....haha. COFFEE!!

 

Boyd

Boyd is a company that owns many casino's in Las Vegas but nothing on the strip.

http://www.boydgaming.com/

TomTWI

 

I recently inquired about group rates for 10 rooms. I spoke with Total Experiences. I was told they are the department or entity that handles group bookings for all CET properties. The rate I was given at the time was only $20 cheaper per night per room than what was offered on Total Rewards site.

I ended up going a different direction.