Kyle Peterson (reuters@telecom-digest.org) Sat, 12 Nov 2005 19:01:57 -0600

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By Kyle Peterson Online travel agency Expedia.com said a glitch last week allowed some travelers to book hotel stays in Japan at stunningly low prices and that only some of these reservations would be honored. Expedia.com, run by Expedia Inc., posted incorrect prices for two Hilton International hotels in Japan. Some customers reported prices as low as $2 a night. The agency blamed the mix-up on an "isolated processing incident" at Hilton. A hotel spokeswoman described it as a "technical glitch" on Hilton's side. Expedia said on Friday that Hilton would honor some of these bookings and that other customers would get a $250 coupon for a package trip to Japan. The company also said it notified some customers offering to confirm the original booking at the correct price or cancel the booking with a full refund. Randall Besta, who had booked stays for 11 nights in Tokyo and Osaka next year, said that option was unacceptable. The 43-year-old Toronto marketing consultant had already booked flights for himself and a friend to Tokyo. He said he has received confirmation from Hilton saying the rate would be honored but that Expedia told him the rate was incorrect. Besta said he would think twice before booking on Expedia again. "If they come clean on this, then yes," said Besta, who booked his rooms for $3.48 a night. Expedia said that bookings for this month would be honored at the quoted price. But later bookings would be canceled at Hilton's request. The exception is for package deals booked on Expedia. Those also will be honored. Expedia said it was offering customers who booked rooms at the wrong rate a $250 coupon for a package trip to Japan booked prior to December 31, 2005. Travel must be completed by December 31, 2006. Bill Scannell, who plans to fly with his family to Osaka, Japan, next year, said Expedia agreed to honor his booking after he called several times to complain. "You can't weasel out of something like this," said Scannell, a 41-year-old publicist in Washington. "With travel you make plans. You buy tickets. I've been busy mapping out frequent fliers to get my family there." He said he had been considered legal action if his September 7-20, 2006, reservation at a Hilton in Osaka was not kept at the price he was promised. Scannell booked the room on November 4 for a total of $46.57. Expedia later told him the correct figure was $2,079.57. Expedia said one reason it was canceling the bookings was to prevent people from reselling the cheap bookings to travelers at higher prices. Expedia bookings are nontransferable. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily.

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