I am in the midst of wrestling with Expedia.  I booked 3 nights at a hotel.  The next day,

I had to change it to only 2 (had to shorten the trip).  It took forever on the phone,

they finally did it.   24 hours go by, no change has been made.  I called the hotel directly,

and they still have me for 3 days.  I’m on another interminably long hold call with Expedia,

and they now tell me that "They don’t really have the ability to make that change, so they

had to FAX the change to the hotel."



In other words, they are perfectly capable of precharging me, taking my money, and booking

the 3 nights.  Now that I need to make a change, they are perfectly capable of taking

the $25 PENALTY fee for making the change.

It seems the only thing they are incapable of doing it actually MAKING THE CHANGE.



Now they tell me that THEY (Expedia) charge my credit card, but that
even now that they have made this change, I will not see it in the
on-line itinerary.  I will just get another email from them. 
But they will credit my card ("They promise"!).  And oh, by the
way, I should call back in 24 hours to make sure the change has been
made.  In other words, I HAVE TO DO THEIR JOB FOR THEM to make
sure they have done what they promise.



Here’s my advice, tell all these web-based reservation services to shove it.  Call the hotel

directly (not the 800 "hotel chain" number... dig, dig DIG and get the REAL number at

the hotel where you want to stay).  When you call the hotel, ask
for the Front Desk, NOT "reservations" because most chains will just
bounce you right out of their hotel to their "call center" as soon as
you do that.  When you get a guy on the phone at the front desk,
tell him you want to reserve rooms at his hotel WITH HIM, and tell him
specifically NOT to bounce you to the reservation number or you will
not stay at his hotel.  Be firm.  This works.



If you want reservations that are accurate, trust me.  Do it the old fashioned way.