Over the years, I’ve been a strong propoent of accumulating and redeeming flexible points currencies for outsized value. Chase Ultimate Rewards points has been one of my favorite points currencies of the last decade. I have the option to transfer points to their partners at a 1:1 ratio. Moreover, for the time being, I can still redeem my points to book with Chase Travel for a redemption value of 1.25 cents per point. I’ve used my points to book stays via Chase Travel multiple times over the years. However, this time around, my experience was really odd due to a technical glitch.
Also Read: Earn 5 Free Nights + $100: Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card Review
Strange Chase Travel Experience
I was looking to book a short staycation at the Taj Santacruz in Mumbai, India. The Taj Santacruz is a unique property as it is located right next to Mumbai Airport’s Terminal 1. One of the best things about the property is that you have Runway View rooms which offer great views of the runway, which is a fantastic spot if you love doing plane watching all day along.
I saw that the property was showing up on Chase Travel’s website. The property has multiple categories of rooms, but you can primarily categorize them as offering four different types of views:
- Runway View
- Facade View
- City View
- Pool View
Without hesitation, I booked the Runway View room and opted for a package that offered half board, which meant that I could really enjoy a nice sumptuous breakfast and dinner buffet at the property. Since I had stayed at this property before, I reached out to one of my contacts there about my upcoming stay. I got a call from their reservations team to confirm my details. However, that’s when things got really odd.
The reservations agent called me and told me that my reservation was for a City View room. I quickly logged back into my account and looked up my itinerary on Chase Travel. Surely enough, it showed a Runway View room. The reservations agent said that my booking was via hotelbeds.com (which is what he was seeing on his end) and said that it was only showing up as a City View room.
He offered me that I could pay to upgrade to a Runway view room for an additional $25 per night or also upgrade to a Club level room with Runway view for $45 per night. I declined to upgrade and decided to sort things out while checking in.
The Pundit’s Mantra
Thankfully, when I was checking in, I got the matter sorted out as I showed the booking screenshot to the person at the front desk. He was kind enough to waive the upgrade charge of $25 per night for the Runway view room. Overall, we had a fantastic stay as we enjoyed the runway views and the proximity to the airport.
I’ve booked multiple trips over the years with Chase Travel. This time around, it was pretty odd to see the discrepancy between what I booked and what the hotel was seeing as a booking in their system.
Have you had any such experiences while booking with Chase Travel? Tell us in the comments section.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Credit Card Offers
American Express Business Credit Cards
- Earn 200,000 Membership Rewards points with the Business Platinum Card
- Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards points with the Business Gold Card by American Express
Chase Sapphire Cards
