How frequently do you stay in hotels that make you pay for the wifi?

Started by Martinus, October 03, 2012, 01:25:48 AM

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garbon

"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

crazy canuck

Ok, I assumed that if even I had one everyone must have one by now.  I stand corrected and I am now officially ahead of you youngsters on the tech curve.

Nice to know.

alfred russel

I have a smartphone, but it doesn't work everywhere, I don't want to use it for tasks such as flight/hotel/car reservations or travel research or paying bills, and I can't work off of it.
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

There's a fine line between salvation and drinking poison in the jungle.

I'm embarrassed. I've been making the mistake of associating with you. It won't happen again. :)
-garbon, February 23, 2014

garbon

Quote from: crazy canuck on October 03, 2012, 03:01:52 PM
Ok, I assumed that if even I had one everyone must have one by now.  I stand corrected and I am now officially ahead of you youngsters on the tech curve.

Nice to know.

Touchpads are really the latest thing. ;)
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

alfred russel

CC, if your office has a lot of travel, having admins negotiate rates and this stuff can generate some big savings and perks.
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

There's a fine line between salvation and drinking poison in the jungle.

I'm embarrassed. I've been making the mistake of associating with you. It won't happen again. :)
-garbon, February 23, 2014

crazy canuck

Quote from: alfred russel on October 03, 2012, 03:31:29 PM
CC, if your office has a lot of travel, having admins negotiate rates and this stuff can generate some big savings and perks.

I get handed plain tickets and the rest of the info I need for the trip.  The only criteria I set out is location.  My secretary does the rest.

alfred russel

Quote from: crazy canuck on October 03, 2012, 03:47:36 PM
Quote from: alfred russel on October 03, 2012, 03:31:29 PM
CC, if your office has a lot of travel, having admins negotiate rates and this stuff can generate some big savings and perks.

I get handed plain tickets and the rest of the info I need for the trip.  The only criteria I set out is location.  My secretary does the rest.

I wasn't getting at the booking process: if you figure out your office spends 300 nights in Toronto a year, if your firm as a process calls the top 3 preferred hotels and says, "this is our annual business and you can have all of it, but we want free internet, breakfast, and parking and reasonable laundry fees plus a quote for your best rate", my guess is your costs would come down quite a bit. If you don't do this already.
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

There's a fine line between salvation and drinking poison in the jungle.

I'm embarrassed. I've been making the mistake of associating with you. It won't happen again. :)
-garbon, February 23, 2014

crazy canuck

You make a good point.

But thankfully I dont have to spend that much time away.  Some of my partners do have to travel a lot relative to me and they get more perks of frequent travel through points etc.

jimmy olsen

Quote from: Iormlund on October 03, 2012, 01:06:56 PM
I've never paid for Wifi in a Spanish hotel. Then again I don't go to 5 star ones.
Free wifi and desktop computers come standard in Korean love motels.
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Monoriu

Quote from: derspiess on October 03, 2012, 11:32:19 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on October 03, 2012, 11:27:43 AM
Charging me for wifi is like charging me for toilet paper or electricity.  I hate it but sometimes have to stay in those hotels because of other reasons, e.g. price and location. 

So do you pay for it or do without?

Usually I do without, but sometimes I have to pay for it.  Like when I need to confirm airline bookings.

Martinus

Quote from: garbon on October 03, 2012, 07:47:08 AM
Almost every hotel I go to charges for wi-fi, unless you have a certain level membership in their loyalty programs.  That said, I've also noticed that if I stay at the lower middle end of hotels, it is also generally free if they have it.  I guess the middle-to-high end hotels have a lot of business travelers who if not in the loyalty program, will just expense it anyway.

Do you see the charge going away at high end hotels at some point in future? As I said in the OP, I think the tech level has progressed right now to the point where a wifi service is a must have and not an extra - so it is a bit like making your guests pay for water in the shower or electricity in the socket.

I noticed this change because it was for the first time I stayed at a somewhat good hotel (the new Hilton in Amsterdam - sure it is not 5 star, but it was not shabby) and it had both free wifi and, on top of that, an iMac with an internet connection in each room.

Martinus

By the way isn't it funny how this is probably the Nth thread recently which is splurged all over by CC's passive aggressive "I'm rich so my life is completely different from yours, proles" posts? :D

Eddie Teach

To sleep, perchance to dream. But in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?

garbon

Quote from: Martinus on October 04, 2012, 01:20:20 AM
Do you see the charge going away at high end hotels at some point in future?

I don't know. I haven't really seen any evidence that the charges will be going away.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

garbon

So at the front desk of my cheaply hotel tonight, they led with the fact that they have free wireless. :D
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.