TL;DR: Booked an EDIT property through Chase Travel using points. Hotel never received payment from Chase. Spent ~6+ hours on the phone over two days, got locked out of our room without our belongings, and Chase only offered 20k points for ruining nearly half our vacation. Avoid Chase Travel.
We booked an EDIT property available to Reserve cardholders using Chase points. Everything appeared confirmed. When we arrived after a long travel day, the hotel told us payment had not been received from Chase and we owed the full balance.
We spent 2 hours on the phone with Chase Travel at the front desk while Chase insisted payment had been processed but couldn’t provide proof the hotel required. Despite this being an EDIT property with an existing Chase partnership, Chase repeatedly had us hand our phone to front desk staff instead of contacting the property directly.
Exhausted and just wanting access to our room, the hotel placed a hold on our personal card for the first night. Chase assured us the issue would be resolved by morning.
The next day, nothing had changed. The hotel still hadn’t heard from Chase. About 5 hours later, we were told payment still hadn’t been made and we needed to pay promptly.
We called Chase again, refusing to pay twice. When we returned to our room to call privately, we discovered we’d been locked out due to the payment issue — with no passports or belongings, just our phones.
After another 2 hours and multiple agents, an escalations manager finally contacted the hotel’s reservations department directly and properly submitted payment.
By then, 2 of our 5 vacation days were ruined. Chase Travel’s compensation was 20,000 points, which doesn’t even cover half a night at the hotel.
My fiancé has an Amex card and has never experienced anything like this with Amex Travel.
Be warned — do not book with Chase Travel.
Do NOT Book Through Chase Travel — Nightmare Experience at a Sapphire Reserve Property
byu/Simple_Principle_103 inCreditCards
Posted by Simple_Principle_103
13 Comments
Sorry you had to deal with that. Unfortunately, there are some inherent risks when you book through a 3rd party
[https://www.reddit.com/r/ChaseSapphire/comments/1pnlhtr/chase_lowered_point_boost_redemption_rate_for/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ChaseSapphire/comments/1pnlhtr/chase_lowered_point_boost_redemption_rate_for/)
Chase is not doing well. Losing trust left and right
Mmm I never had any problems with the Chase travel portal. I booked high end stays and my last one was in Sept of this year.
Unfortunately, Chase capped my spending limit when I needed it the most, for house upgrades and I closed my account a few weeks back. Citi and Amex increased my limits without me asking…and Cap 1 stayed the same.
I like banks who trust me with credit and Chase is no longer in that ballpark for me.
I would say next time, once you make the reservation, call the hotel and double check that they can see your reservation.
Sounds like too much stress. Would have just paid and dealt with chase after
I’d assume the hotel is at fault, something misconfigured somewhere or lack of staff training. If Chase claimed payment was made, it probably was, maybe not where the hotel wanted or expected it. Chase’s system is automated, and while certainly not flawless, I can’t believe they’d see that a payment was made if it wasn’t.
How reputable is this hotel? I’ll go out on a limb and guess it’s not a chain but something local? I’d be frustrated with them first and foremost. Though this is a risk of paying through a third party.
The magic of portal booked travel!
Lessons learned here are to not spend your vacation on the phone with 800 numbers. Tell them to work it out and leave.
The hotel cannot steal your stuff. They can kick you out of the hotel but they cannot lock you out of your room with your belongings inside.
Chase is shit, but this hotel is even worse for treating you like that. Leave them terrible reviews.
Chase is for sure at fault too but based on your story the hotel is the really bad party here. They should never have taken your property like that while being a partner of Chase and having some idea of the reservation existing. Obviously it was something that would have been resolved unless the hotel is being shady and not honest about payment.
Name the hotel, also leave 1* reviews everywhere. Most likely Chase is going to remove them from their network anyway at this rate.
I feel like there is a missing part of the story here though.
This is a risk of booking thru 3rd party portals. When I book thru a travel portal, I always double check the reservation directly with the airline or hotel immediately after booking. Gives you more time to sort out issues like this.
I agree not to book using a third party, it’s always a nightmare. I would recount some of my experience but I don’t want to re-live it now.
I stay the hell away from portals, I’m cursed and spend hours on the phone multiple times. I used the capital one portal after years of staying away and yup, it was a disaster. No room was booked, and was told I needed to do the ground work to prove it. I did and after 2 months got my money back.
I only book direct now.
If what you say is true, that’s insane. Plus with the nerf to points boost… Chase dropped the ball hard
I’ve had something like this happen with Capital One travel once.
I always call the hotel after booking to confirm they’ve got the reservation on their end when using any 3rd party system like Chase or Capital One.