Rack Rate

Motels make it so damn hard to get a rational room rate.

I just got off the phone with TripRewards. It turns out that when they promise that you are guarenteed the "best rate" when you book through them what that actually means is that it's the "best rate" they are going to give you, not the best rate available to you.

I'm at a DaysInn in Durant OK. I'm paying $49.99. I was orginally quoted $59.99 by them even though they have a huge banner across the front of the property announcing a $49.99 rate. That's a special rate for guests who've never stayed here before, they explained. I got the $49.99 rate, but they wouldn't accept the TripRewards card. "That rate is too low, they said". They would have given me TripRewards credit at the $59.99 rate. Curious about the differential pricing I called TripRewards and found out that if I'd have booked through their website, where they promise the "best rate", I'd have been booked at $69.99.

I don't think I'll be using the TripRewards website for making reservations again anytime soon.

Language means nothing anymore.

I'm going over to the Choctaw Casino in Durant in a minute. I stopped and checked it out before I got the room. More about that later.