Hotel billing mistakes ‘regular occurrence’
Hotel billing mistakes may be costing business travelers a half-million dollars a year, according to a new study.
Said George Hansen, CEO of Corporate Lodging Consultants: “These mistakes don’t occasionally happen — they regularly happen.”
Lodging Consultants reviewed the hotel bills of a major client over a one-year period. The company found 11.6% billed incorrectly. The average overpayment was $11.35 a night.
Setting the US travel lodging at 1.4 million rooms, the company came up with the $500 million figure.
American Express Business Travel agrees that overcharges for hotel rooms are common.
The company in a study last year found that room rates quoted by central reservation systems differed from negotiated rates 56% of the time.
And the vast majority of the errors were in the hotels’ favor.
American Express is among companies rolling out new software aimed at preventing incorrect hotel bills, says USA Today.
Report by David Wilkening
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