What do you think?

[Patty]

We booked our villa in November. Yesterday I received an email from the rental company announcing spring and summer specials. The villa we are staying in was listed in the summer specials....stay 7 nights get the 8th night free. I responded to the email inquiring whether we would get the discount. The reply was that the discount only applied to new rentals. The email doesn't indicate that it is only for new rentals. I suppose it is like buying airline tickets and having the price go down. It just seems to be that it would be good business to offer the discount to those who are already committed to keep them as future customers. What do you think?

[snorkeler525]

Agree with you. We rented a villa for the week after Christmas. Some time later, the owners were offering a 25 percent discounts if you made the rental by December 31, 2008. Our week was listed as being discounted so I contacted them and they honored the discount. Only makes sense to me since I would have been ticked to not get the discount everyone else was getting.

[Lovermont]

I would pursue the discount. You might just say that you mentioned the scenario "on the forum" and the opinion was that the discount should be honored. They'd be wise not to play with your money in this way, 'cause you could quite easily post an unfavorable review. I don't condone blackmail, but you gave them your deposit in good faith way in advance, so you shouldn't have to pay more than folks coming to the game right now.
Just sayin'

[Jumbiegirl]

I think you have to just eat it and not take the discount. When you made the reservation to accepted the price and terms at the time.

Personally I object to using the opinions expressed on the forum as some kind of a fist when dealing with agents. The forum has no actual power with agents and their prices so to weild its name like an authority is presumptuous and a bit self-entitled. Agents shouldn't be afraid of one unfavorable review on a site that most renters never heard about.

JMO

[hoosierdaddy]

I think it is like buying a car and seeing a commercial the next day and there is a rebate that you didn't get. I would not persue it any further if you have already asked once. I think the discounts are do to the poor economy and the rental agencies are doing what they can to increase rentals.<a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/">
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[djmom]

I think that you get the best villas available by reserving early, so you sometimes miss out on discounts.

This year we are a little tight on funds so we are holding out a little longer than normal. We know we could very well miss out on a villa that meets all of our requirements.

So in your case I would say you do not have a case as you got what was probably the villa of your choice or close to it....

It is different for flights because the seats on the plane are relatively "equal".

[dehman]

It sounds like the discounts apply to the low season and your booking may not be low season. As a villa owner I don't want a bad review anywhere, I try to read the forum input and have gotten some good suggestions to make the place better (from Soxfan for example). The input is important but it wouldn't change the way we conduct business especially if it were a "threat". Just about every type of business operates this way. Sales go on after you buy and sometimes you miss them. I guess it's OK to ask but I wouldn't expect anyone to make a change.
The villas actually make a decent alternative in my admittedly biased opinion because you can cook at home so my hope would be that they will be effected a bit less than the resorts. We have not experienced it (knock on wood!)but rentals will surely feel some pain.

[crasherino]

It never hurts to ask, but these rental agencies are dealing with individual owners and often times don't have the flexibility to unilaterally give you a discount.

In your case, the owner of the villa agreed to rent out their villa for X dollars. You agreed to the deal and signed a contract. The owner of the villa is not really concerned that the other villas in the agency's inventory aren't as busy. Perhaps their villa is more desirable than the others.

Its pretty common for the agencies to have "Last Minute Travel Specials" as the dates get closer. But, presumably, they still have to get the OK from the owners to lease the properties at a certain price.

[liamsaunt]

I think that if you already signed a contract for an agreed upon price, that the agency is definitely within their rights to hold you to that price. There's no harm in asking for the discount you saw, but since the agency already said no to you, I would let it go.

Just my opinion!

[VacationMom]

I feel funy asking, but which company is offering discounts? We have a late change in plans and may be able to plan a family trip this June and as I'm searching availability I'm shocked at how many villas have only one or two weeks booked all summer. I think the economy may just be hitting reservations for some owners and they want to get at least something this summer even if it discounted. For my family a discounted villa would be a big factor in coming down. I'm sure if I was on your end I would be upset, but no one anticpated such a downturn in the economy.

[liamsaunt]

Hi VacationMom, I was on the Caribbean Villas website last night and they are offering discounts on many of their properties. I saw discounts for both on season and off (varies by house), ranging from 10%-40% off the regular rate.

Here is a link to get you started:

http://www.caribbeanvilla.com/lastminute.asp


I also think if you don't mind waiting a little longer, and you have flexibilty about which house/neighborhood you want to rent, the number of discounts will continue to grow. I'm planning on starting to look for a house for our summer trip in late March.

Happy villa hunting!

[Jan&MikeVa]

Patty, since you already asked I'd probably let it go. The bad economy has started hitting vacation destinations hard in the gut. I'm sure they are offering discounts to try and build up some rentals.

VacationMom,if you find a villa you like it doesn't hurt to write the villa company and ask if they are offering any discounts during the period you're looking to travel. I did that for our recent trip and was given a great deal, but only during a 2 week window. Good luck, keep us posted!

[Margy Z]

We’re in a similar situation, having booked early. It's very disappointing.

This subject came up on a different forum and a property owner expressed that she would not give her newly announced discount to the folks who had booked previously for that time period and that it was “just too bad for them”. To me, that’s not the way to build repeat business. I would think that a property manager / villa agent would also be interested in repeat business, not necessarily at the same villa but surely they would want to keep the client and have them book another property in their inventory. Maybe the agent is hamstrung by the owner in offering retro discounts on a specific property but I think it would be in the agent’s best interest to offer something to the renter who has booked early and placed a hefty deposit. With the airlines, at least you get a voucher for future bookings when the price goes down appreciably. Maybe a future discount could be offered by the agent – something to take the sting out of not getting the full discount and stimulate future business.

[b-as-u-r]

I'd probably give it a second try and if they don't budge, then I guess I'd let it go. Well, to a certain point...perhaps they should be reminded of your villa needs for future travels to STJ. Unfortunately, it's probably going to take awhile for things to get back on track. I have to applaud Destination St. John on giving me a refund of the difference on a villa that had been reduced after I booked. This was actually a couple years ago and was reduced not as a result of the economy but more so to draw more rentals on the property by offering a more affordable rental rate. As I recall, the discount almost paid for the car rental. The villa for SOTB III was just rented and as a result of inquiring as to a discount on the price, we were given a decent reduced rate for the rental. Good luck! Ali~

[Gromit]

What's the penalty for cancelling the reservation?

If you can cancel and then rebook (even with the same villa co) and still come out ahead (even if there is a penalty) they should just give you the discount. Because then technically you are following the terms of the contract (with the cancellation clause). Quite frankly, just extending the discount in this case will save them the paperwork. Or hell, offer to split the difference.

I was also unsure of the timing of your booking. Often when a drop or offer occurs right after you purchase something a retailer will honor it. It's just good buisiness. USually 3 days to a week is standard in my experience.

Even the airlines will honor the price drop with a credit toward another flight or they rebook your reservation, you pay the change penalty and then you can pocket the difference. Obviously with the change fees being so high there's not as much incentive and it would have to be a crazy drop in price.

Another way to go on the villa is to look around and see what other folks are offering in terms of pricing. Again, understand any penalties that you may incur and do the math. Chances are they won't want to lose your business. It's one thing if you had already been on your vacation but you haven't actually arrived yet.

They've also had a pretty sizable deposit that sits in their escrow account and earns interest over several months so it's not like they're not coming out ahead even if the interest isn't sizable. You don't have access to that money -- they do.

If I book a hotel and I check on the price of that room before I arrive and it has dropped I contact the hotel and ask for the new rate. I have never been turned down.

Just my .02.