Ethics Question: coorporate hotel discounts
 

All:

I'm on my way home from a business trip at this time, and I stayed at a hotel that gave me a discount for mentioning the comany I was visiting. I also used to work for a major company that gave it's employes a booklet listing hotels that have a negotiated rate for business travelers connected to that company.

It occurs to me that no one ever verifies that you work for or are visiting the company you are citing, so there is nothing stopig one from finding out what big companies are near an area you want to visit for pleasure, and askign for a corporate rate?

This seems a little like cheating to me, but if so, who is being cheated?

Not the hotel. If you weren't getting a discounted rate, you might have choosen a cheaper hotel and they wouldn't have your business at all.

Not the company you mention. The company doesn't pay the hotel anything for people staying with the corporate rate. The traveller is billed for the entire amount. In fact, more reservations at the hotel receives citing the company name, the more willing the company will be to give travelers connected to the company a good rate.

So is there anything unethical about this?

Mutual benefit. No cheating at all.

This entire question depends on what you mean by 'unethical'.

I think "ethical" is a bit strong of a word for such small potatoes.

Maybe its the correct term techncially, but really it puts alot more gravity to the situation than is necessary.

I'd do it, and now that I heard about it, I probably will!

I think that unless you're incredibly familiar with the hotel industry, like maybe you're a travel agent, or a person who visits hotels a lot on business, as in this story, you wouldn't really have any idea that such discounts exist.

Plus, they offer the discount because they know it drives a lot of extra business. Doing anything to jeopardize that mutual benefit like involving paperwork and "proof" would probably be way more work than it's worth.

since everyone seems to agree with you, i won't. (and that is the only reason i take this stance)

when you say you're visiting MegaCorp and you aren't visiting MegaCorp, you are lying. that is indisputable. it may seem like a lie with no victim, but is it?

the Hotel has set a price that they believe to be fair. and this is the price that they give to all of their customers. are you better than the man in line behind you? do you deserve a better deal just because you lie?

if eveyone takes this discount, the hotel takes a hit to their profits and maybe one less maid or one less desk clerk gets hired. your discount piled on top of others keeps someone from getting a job. or worse, someone gets fired to improve the bottom line.

if they had a veteran's discount, would you say that you served in the armed forces just for a discount? (assuming you have not)

how far are you willing to take the lie?

/end devil's advocate. i will now resign from my post at Satan's side.

Not unethical at all. I am traveling today and will add more when I have a chance.

Well, that's not at all true. Hotels have a minimum price they can rent a room at and still make a set minimum profit margin. Then they have a published rate that's anywhere from 30% to 100% above that, depending on the quality of their facility, location, their brand and reputation, etc. Discounts (AAA, corporate, senior citizen, etc) fall in that range somewhere.

Hotels routinely have a whole menu of prices they can offer to people with various discount eligibility, and they make plenty of money no matter which way you book your room.

Moral of the thread: Lying is ethical if it saves you money.

And don't forget seasonal demand. Resort hotels are less expensive in the off season. Rates even vary during the week. Hotels in resort areas charge more on weeknds, and you'll even find that hotels with lots of nearby office parks but no nearby tourist attractions charge LESS on Friday & Saturday because most of their customers are business travelers.

Well, I do because I've traveled a lot on business and I have been adivsed on several occasions to ask for discounts arrainged by companies I worked for or was visiting.

If you are visiting a city (as opposed to a resort area like Aspen) and you know (or the people you are visiting can tell you) of a major employer in the area, it's an easy thing to ask. Let's say you're visitng Bellevue, WA for a wedding. When calling around for hotels, you might ask "Do you have a discount for people visiting Microsoft?" and you have a good shot at knocking $20-$50 from your nightly rate. No hotel is going to agree to a rate that would loose them money, so I'm not sure what is wrong with this, except that you're telling a fib, which means lie you're trying to justify.

Yeah, that's what I got also. Anything involving lying for personal gain is unethical.

Is it wrong? Well, that obviously has to be decided for yourself.

Imagine the scenario slightly different. Everyone has to pay full price, but if you go up and hit a button that says "Employees (or people visiting an employee), please press this button to recieve $20"

Or, to make it more extreme, imagine you went to check in, and there was a sign that said "Sorry, had to step out for a bit. Please put the correct amount of money in an envelope, slide it under the door and take a key. $100 for regular guests, $80 for people with employee discounts"

Seems a minor issue, compared to the CEO's of the largest US bank and largest brokerage recently telling costly (to the investing public who took them at their word) deliberate lies, and an executive at the largest US vehicle manufacturer, doucmented doing the same thing:
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showpos...2&postcount=33

Coming at a time of a "big push" for "smaller government" and "privatization", touted by some, as "solutions" to societal woes, this criminally deceptive conduct by the leaders of the largest US businesses is especially troubling.

Are these executives and their firms, participating in the "noise" for privatization and deregulation?

There are bigger issues to concern yourself with, and you need not worry because the fact that you asked if you were acting in a questionable way, places you heads above the "scions of industry" who just last month, assured us that they were all squarely back on the path to profitability.

There are much deeper hotel discount opportunities using this:
http://biddingfortravel.com/ ....it is a site that lists which hotels in each priceline bidding area are likely to be participating, reviews of the hotels, and more importantly, bidding strategies and recently successful bid prices posted by other site participants and moderators.

As a backup, this site also has served me well:
www.hotwire.com

Both methods have many times gained me much lower rates and comparable or higher quality accomodations than corporate discounts have.

I suggest initially bidding only on 4 star or higher hotels/resorts, if available, and then limiting your bidding to a 3 star minimum rating. With the discounts, the cost savings justifies this bidding advice, especially since you can't be 100 percent certain where the response to your bid will obligate you to stay.

Instead of sweating whether you are being deceptive for personal gain, the above methods are fun to try, armed with the advantage of the results of others, before you bid

OK - taking your Devil's advocate idea further - what if you say...

"I believe you have a corporate rate for MegaCorp visitors?"

and then they assume you are one.

You've not lied, you've not cheated, but the Hotel gives you a discount.

The best con is one where the victim con themself.

I guess I put this in the same category as those who lie to get the senior discount or the birthday special. I don't think it does the company much harm but it can't be good for you to know you lied for a few bucks just becuase you could get away with it.

well done!

pulling them down to liar's hell with you.

we'll all have good company.

---and good points ratbastid. but i was shocked at how you claimed what i said isn't true... you know i wasn't aiming for truth at all. i only aim below the belt. and if that's where truth lies...

Hrm. Maybe I'm just nuts. It seems pretty clear to me - if you misrepresent yourself, it's wrong. Period. End of story. It doesn't matter if you lie, or as Daniel_ suggests, deceive. It's still wrong.

On the other hand, there are lots of worse things you could do. This isn't something I'd do, but I wouldn't get worked up over it if someone I knew did it, either.

:shrug: For me, the corporate CC I use to pay the bill must be enough proof.

My point was that you allow them to decieve themself.

It's not thievery, it's prestidigitation. :thumbsup:

Lying for personal gain is unethical. In this case, it is not as bad as other unethical gains that can be achieved by misrepresentation, it is not particularly harmful to the victim, and as is typical for this level of unethical act, carries a low ore negligible risk to the perpetrator. At most, the loss to the victim is the amount that an ethical person would pay minus the amount that an unethical person would pay.

On the other hand, the customer may have taken his business elsewhere if not given the discount. In this case, it is more unethical to take a room at a discounted rate if doing so denies the hotel the ability to rent that room to an honest customer who would willingly pay full price than it would be to occupy the room when the hotel was below capacity. However, other discounts are available to customers, and negotiation is possible. To negotiate a lower rate or take a discount to which the customer is entitled would provide the same benefit to the customer without dishonesty. If the hotel is not willing to provide a discount to a customer in other cases, then he is free to take his business elsewhere and negotiate a lower rate.

It is not ethical to claim a discount to which you are not entitled in any situation unless it prevents a more unethical event from taking place.