US's No 2 hotel chain sparks fury by cancelling room and selling it back to customer for 4x the price: 'Fraud'
The football fan and Hilton Honors Diamond member allegedly snagged a room in a Canopy by Hilton hotel in San Francisco during the upcoming 2026 Super Bowl for just $288, according to View From The Wing.
Reaching Diamond status typically requires 60 nights, 30 stays, or 120,000 base points in a calendar year.
It's Hilton's top customer loyalty tier. The Canopy location spotted by the football fan is one of the hotel chain's top-end boutique locations.
But the frequent customer said the unbelievable deal was ripped away and then offered back for $1,090.
The customer, who is unnamed in the article, said he contacted the location's general manager after noticing his room was cancelled.
In alleged email screenshots, the hotel's general manager claimed that a $288 rate was a computer glitch, and the traveler was offered a 'special rate' of more than $1,000 per night for the same stay.
However, screenshots of the original booking suggest the rate was not only published, but accepted by the Hilton system. The hotel has not publicly commented on the discrepancy.
'Your response is unacceptable,' the traveler replied on the screenshotted email thread.
'I chose your property and booked early in good faith. Cancelling a reservation with zero communication, then shifting blame to a "system glitch" erodes trust in your brand.'
Hotel systems often use dynamic pricing during high-traffic events, including the Super Bowl.
The algorithmic sales model allows hotels to anticipate popular events and get customers to pay higher prices when hotels are expecting an influx of guests.
In the email thread, the Hilton manager alleged that other Super Bowl-bound customers were paying an average of $2,800 per night for their stays.
The manager called the new offer a 'significant discount.'
A representative for Hilton didn't immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.
Travelers commenting on the blog didn't take kindly to the manager's response.
A frequent hotel guest said he spotted a great hotel deal in San Francisco for next year's Super Bowl - but it didn't last
Hilton has drawn the ire of traveling experts for its rewards program
'My guess is that a court would be extremely likely to find that there is a binding contract,' one commenter said.
'If the hotel cancels reservations as a matter of policy then there is a good case that this is fraud.'
Another commenter said the emailed response was 'total BS.'
'Many better options in that area anyway,' they added.
Hilton's rewards members have criticized the company's offerings for several years.
According to Gary Leff, one of the writers at View From The Wing and a frequent flier, the company's rewards points are worth only 0.4 cents.
He also said the prices to claim the points are 'stratospheric.'
Also, the travel industry has been facing increasing pressure from regulators and customers who have been frustrated over increasing fees.
Hotels have been adding mysterious 'resort fee' charges that inflate the per-night prices.
It comes as airline companies have been cutting back their US-based services and announcing unpopular policies.
For example, Southwest Airlines recently announced that it would start charging for checked bags. The company's popularity grew in large part because of the formerly free offering.
Meanwhile, the company's CEO raked in a huge single-day jackpot because of the change.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
9 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Bikini-clad Livvy Dunne shows off her flexibility in stunning new pictures from Georgia lake trip
Livvy Dunne may have retired from gymnastics in April, but the former LSU star showed that she hasn't lost any flexibility as she shared a series of pictures from her Georgia lake trip. After traveling to Montauk with her MLB boyfriend Paul Skenes last month, Dunne has been spending time in Lake Oconee with her sister Julz and other friends. And the national champion gymnast showed off her skills in one photo posted to her Instagram, as she performed a handstand on the dock while wearing a leopard-print bikini. In other photos which made up the carousel post to her feed, Dunne could be seen smiling as she posed by the water in a blue swimsuit, while she and her sister Julz embraced each other in another picture. Dunne even tried her hand at water skiing, as she posted an action shot of her holding on for dear life. She captioned her post: 'The summer I turned into a lake girl.' The snaps surfaced on Saturday after Dunne shared a similarly happy picture to her story on Friday, as she beamed at the camera while sitting at a lakeside cabin. Earlier in the week, the social media influencer made headlines when she weighed in on one of the internet's most viral moments - Taylor Swift's appearance on the 'New Heights' podcast, hosted by Travis and Jason Kelce. Swift, who has faced backlash from some male NFL fans for the screen time she received while cheering on boyfriend Travis during Chiefs games, leaned into the criticism during the show. 'I think we all know that if there's one thing that male sports fans want to see in their spaces and on their screens - it's more of me,' the pop icon joked. Dunne reposted the clip to her story, adding 'She gets it' - signaling her support for Swift's response. It's been several months since Dunne - who had been a fifth-year senior at LSU - formally announced her emotional retirement from gymnastics. In a video released by LSU, she narrated: 'Time flies when you're having fun. Something said when you're enjoying yourself to the point time seems to slip away from you. And that's exactly how the past 20 years in this sport have felt. She even tried her hand at water skiing and posted and action shot of her holding on 'The highs, the lows, making the USA national team and competing for our country, every risk was worth the reward. Finishing my career over the past five years of the best university in the world has been an incredible journey, and I'm forever grateful.' She continued: 'Gymnastics, you have filled my heart and shaped be a part of me. You've shaped me into the person I am today, creating memories and sisterhoods that will last a life support. You are my first love. 'To my family, especially my parents. Thank you for everything, for supporting me through it all, and to my childhood coaches from New Jersey and the LSU coaching staff, thank you for pushing me to be great. and yes, time did fly by, and I will cherish every memory for the rest of my life. 'Thank you for everything gymnastics. You were so good to me.' While Dunne will no longer be competing in gymnastics, she's remained around the sports world as she's cheered on her boyfriend Skenes - who is considered one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
$80 bill for six beers lays bare rip-off Vegas prices as Sin City battles to restore tanking tourism sector
A six-pack of beers for nearly $80 has shed a shameful light on the tanking tourism industry in Las Vegas. A horrified visitor posted the staggering $76.99 bill for a bucket of six Coors Light while partying at the Flamingo pool in the middle of the city's famed Strip For 24 cold ones the bill was an extortionate $290.00 - a markup of nearly 15 times its usual $20. 'I can't keep going here,' the partier who filmed his menu said as he listed off the pricey options. Cases of Topo Chico or Truly hard seltzers, which typically cost around $30 to $35, were also sold for almost $300. For drinkers who want a mixed cocktail, a large Bloody Mary would set them back $40 per drink. And six shots, a total of just nine fluid ounces, costs $99.99 in the party hub on the Vegas strip. Food options at the pool weren't any more reasonable, with a chicken tender platter or a cheeseburger slider plate running up to $89.99. 'Get ready to spend if you want to go to the Go Pool,' the shocked partier added. It comes after a new report to Las Vegas's Convention and Visitors Authority warned the number of airline passengers arriving at the city will continue to plummet in the coming months. The tourism body was told in the report by Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting that capacity rates at the gambling hotspot's Harry Reid International Airport are forecast to drop dramatically in the second half of 2025. They warned the number of inbound passengers will plunge to around 95,000 seats per day for the rest of the year - a worrying prediction that represents a 2.3 per cent fall from 2024 numbers. The decline is largely fueled by an 18.5 per cent drop in traffic from Canada, which typically provides the largest share of international visitors to the Nevada city, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. The loss of Canadian tourists has canceled out gains from other continents, including a 31.7 per cent increase in airline capacity from Asia and a 21.6 per cent increase jump from Europe excluding the United Kingdom. The report cemented a steep decline in tourism to Las Vegas, with previous statistics from April showing it was losing upwards of 300,000 visitors per month since the start of 2025. The number of Canadian passengers flying to Las Vegas fell to an average of 2,412 per day this year, according to the report. This has been blamed by some on the election in January of Donald Trump and his threats to make Canada the 51st state. Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president and chief executive Steve Hill told the Journal he was hearing from many angry Canadians about the president. 'There's an awful lot of the anecdotal conversation around Canadians being angry and upset about tariffs and talk around annexing the country,' he said. 'We've seen consumer confidence numbers drop pretty significantly over the past couple of months.' In May, the World Travel & Tourism Council reported that the U.S. was set to lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending this year. 'While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the "closed" sign,' Julia Simpson, the council's president and chief executive, said in a news release at the time. Another reason for the recent drop in Las Vegas is due to a maintenance issue with Spirit Airlines, the second busiest carrier at Reid International Airport. The maintenance issues have grounded 50 planes in Spirit's fleet, which has significantly reduced its capacity, according to Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting senior director Joel Van Over. 'They have an issue with their (jet) engines,' Van Over said. 'They have to pull that engine off the plane, fix the cracks, put it back on the plane, and that whole process takes about 300 days. 'So obviously they can't just do a plane a year because it would take them 100 years to get that done.'
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Starbucks sets ambitious goal to up their earnings and improve customer experiences
Starbucks is making a bold promise to tackle customers' biggest gripe - no order will take longer than four minutes to make. America's biggest coffee chain has lost millions of customers in the past year, many fed up with high prices or shoddy stores. But, by Starbucks' own admission, most had grown weary of waiting 20 minutes for a drink. CEO Brian Niccol, poached from Chipotle in the fall, is rolling out a new 'Green Apron Service' to tackle this and other customers moans. Baristas now have a target that no custom drink should take more than four minutes. The key to cutting wait times is Starbucks' biggest hiring spree in history - which will add as many as 85,000 workers across its 17,000 U.S. locations. When Niccol's announced the recruitment blitz at a huge Starbucks convention in Las Vegas in June, the 14,000 stores managers in attendance roared their approval. Five years ago, Starbucks stores averaged 23 employees. Cost-cutting has since trimmed that number down to 18 to 19 - four to five fewer workers per location. Niccol said: 'It's centered on putting enough partners on the roster in the stores and then deployed correctly so they can provide that customer connection, that experience, that frankly Starbucks really was founded on.' Restoring pre-Covid staffing levels would mean hiring between 68,000 and 85,000 people across all U.S. stores. Even focusing solely on the 11,000 company-owned locations, the increase would still be a massive 44,000 to 55,000 hires. The new hires are expected to support Starbucks' efforts to bring back a more personal touch - including a new policy asking baristas to handwrite notes on customers' cups. The former Chipotle boss has embarked on a series of plans to return Starbucks to its original 'third place between home and work' concept. Coffee drinkers have turned away from the chain in recent years, put off by high beverage prices, long wait times, and impersonal experiences. Niccol has set about axing complicated drinks from Starbucks menus and instead asking staff to put messages on customer's coffee cups and scaling back promotions. The plan will help address the major customer pet peeve of long wait times. It will also likely be popular with front of house employees who have complained of chronic issues with understaffing, which compounds the backlogs. Restoring pre-Covid staffing levels would mean hiring between 68,000 and 85,000 people across all US stores. Even focusing solely on the 11,000 company-owned locations, the increase would still be a massive 44,000 to 55,000 hires. The new hires are also expected to support Starbucks' efforts to bring back a more personal touch — including a new policy asking baristas to handwrite notes on customers' cups. The former Chipotle boss has embarked on a series of plans to return Starbucks to its original 'third place between home and work' concept. Coffee drinkers have turned away from the chain in recent years, put off by high beverage prices, long wait times and impersonal experiences. Niccol has set about axing complicated drinks from Starbucks menus, asking staff to put messages on customer's coffee cups and scaling back promotions. The plan will help address the major customer pet peeve of long wait times before getting their hands on a coffee. It will also likely be popular with front of house employees who have complained of chronic issues with understaffing, which compounds the backlogs. Another change is Starbucks' decision to axe mobile and pickup-only stores. All 80-90 locations will either shutter or be converted to traditional coffeehouses by next year. Other changes include removing new uniform rules which have previously resulted in baristas threatening to quit. However, the changes were not enough to improve Starbucks' sales, which declined for its sixth straight quarter. Both its global and North American sales dipped by two per cent - higher than price drops anticipated by Wall Street.
