Hard Copy v. Electronic Dcumentation - what do you do?

[trblvb]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

Sorry to have a WHINGE in this section but:

HSW
Gold
Last Fri to Tues
$214/night Great Getaway
Poor customer service and rude reception staff (they lost our booking and tried turning us away)
No upgrade ('apparently' due to a convention on that weekend)
First and last time at this hotel
Time to give Accor or Starwood a go...

 

[serfty]

Sorry to have a WHINGE in this section but:

HSW
Gold
Last Fri to Tues
$214/night Great Getaway
Poor customer service and rude reception staff (they lost our booking and tried turning us away)
No upgrade ('apparently' due to a convention on that weekend)
First and last time at this hotel
Time to give Accor or Starwood a go...

Never ever ever ever check in at any hotel (or for a flight for that matter) without a printed copy of your reservation in reserve; 95 times out of 100 you wont need it, but those one in 20 or so times when there is an issue it can be very useful.

The check in staff go by what the computer tells them - they don't know that another staff member may have inadvertently given your reservation to someone else (or something like that).

 

[anat0l]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

Never ever ever ever check in at any hotel (or for a flight for that matter) without a printed copy of your reservation in reserve; 95 times out of 100 you wont need it, but those one in 20 or so times when there is an issue it can be very useful.

The check in staff go by what the computer tells them - they don't know that another staff member may have inadvertently given your reservation to someone else (or something like that).

Great advice, though saying that I'd stake a bet that almost every member here minus a few actually print out their reservation.

If in a pinch, many would rely on their iPhones / Androids / Hilton app / Tripit info / etc........

 

[Flashback]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

Great advice, though saying that I'd stake a bet that almost every member here minus a few actually print out their reservation.

If in a pinch, many would rely on their iPhones / Androids / Hilton app / Tripit info / etc........

Something like the info in your calendar, TripIt etc. I would consider to be as good as any bit of paper... YMMV!

 

[serfty]

Something like the info in your calendar, TripIt etc. I would consider to be as good as any bit of paper... YMMV!

Call me a Luddite if you will, but there's far less chance of failure with a printed sheet of paper than with any electronic device.

Also it's generally far easier to present and pass over said sheet of paper than have the desk clerk squint at the screen on your device.

Posted on a wing and a prayer ...

 

[drron]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

Call me a Luddite if you will, but there's far less chance of failure with a printed sheet of paper than with any electronic device.

Also it's generally far easier to present and pass over said sheet of paper than have the desk clerk squint at the screen on your device.

Posted on a wing and a prayer ...

Definitely.As a pair of travelling Luddites,dinosaurs or whatever mrsdrron likes checking in with a person,not a machine.The guy in front of us in SYD yesterday was obviously in a situation where something was wrong with his booking so he brings out his laptop-waits as it starts up,then connecting to the internet-fortunately another agent arived and he was still trying to get his info when we left.We always have a printed copy of reservations.There have been times when you are hit with a higher rate so you can then just show your piece of paper.Though on this trip at 1 hotel they actually gave us a lower rate than we had booked.The paper stayed in the bag!

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

Call me a Luddite if you will, but there's far less chance of failure with a printed sheet of paper than with any electronic device.

Also it's generally far easier to present and pass over said sheet of paper than have the desk clerk squint at the screen on your device.

Posted on a wing and a prayer ...

i store everything on Tripit now , and if in a bind ill pull the email confirmation from my phone. Paper is out.

 

[beardoc]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

Definitely.As a pair of travelling Luddites,dinosaurs or whatever mrsdrron likes checking in with a person,not a machine.The guy in front of us in SYD yesterday was obviously in a situation where something was wrong with his booking so he brings out his laptop-waits as it starts up,then connecting to the internet-fortunately another agent arived and he was still trying to get his info when we left.We always have a printed copy of reservations.There have been times when you are hit with a higher rate so you can then just show your piece of paper.Though on this trip at 1 hotel they actually gave us a lower rate than we had booked.The paper stayed in the bag!

This is what GMail search is for on my phone. Search on "hilton confirmation" in my email and they all come up. Even if their computer systems have lost your booking you still have it in email. And they would have a hard time arguing with me if I could easily supply a confirmation number.

I'm impressed that they went with a lower rate on the day on your travels. I would have kept quiet about that one too!

 

[anat0l]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

Call me a Luddite if you will, but there's far less chance of failure with a printed sheet of paper than with any electronic device.

Also it's generally far easier to present and pass over said sheet of paper than have the desk clerk squint at the screen on your device

The world will most probably change rapidly with respect to this, but I always try to have printed e-tix, reservations etc. ready on hand.

If anything, most customs or the like around the world have a propensity not to look kindly on you if you start to fire up your electronic device in their presence when needing to produce documentation.

I know that, for example, Deutsche Bahn (German rail company) will only accept printed tickets on board (unless they've recently changed their rules). They expressly say that an electronic copy shown on a device (laptop, iPad etc.) is unacceptable.

 

[Cynicor]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

Paper all the way. And I'm relatively young, but I've had the issues with trying to open a laptop to find confirmation- had the reservation printout but had issues with the SPG BRG claim and the room to which we were entitled. Computers and phones are slower and prone to failure at the wrong time, but that's just me.

 

[serfty]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

i store everything on Tripit now , and if in a bind ill pull the email confirmation from my phone. Paper is out.

So do I! But paper is not out.

I store everything on TripIt - I even print out my full TripIt itinerary as a secondary printed reference and could use that printout as a backup if needed.

No desk clerk is ever likely to be peering, breathing over or otherwise touching my electronic storage device.

Having printed copies of the initial bookings can be vital. It is all especially important with Hilton bookings that are eligible for the Maquarie discount, sometimes the value in the booking gets adjusted down by that 20% and some times it does not - cue arguments at check out when the clerk avers the value was already reduced and their red face when you produce the printout of the original booking showing it hasn't.

FWIW, my initial "printout" is to a .pdf and filed on a USB/Dropbox. The day before embarking on a journey is when I normally print out the hard copies and place them in a folio.

So, the reality is that I do both ...

 

[medhead]

All this reminds me of checking into the Glasgow Crowne plaza earlier this year. Opened the PC app on my phone to get my number for platinum benefits. No data, no number. A minor inconvenience, to be sure, but I re-learnt the lesson to have paper backup.


Sent from the Throne

 

[moa999]

Trip it definitely.
Normally travel with the paper tripit itin with all the reference numbers (what is really needed)

But also have a folder on laptop/tablet with PDFs of all originals saved for easy access if I need it... This is also emailed to my gmail account in case said laptop/tablet goes walkabout.

 

[kpc]

Whilst I have all my tickets, hotel / car bookings stored electronically, I ALWAYS travel with a printed copy, and have a second printed copy in my suitcase for all overseas travel.

 

[ozmille]

Even last week in AKL immigration was asking the guy in front of me for a copy of his ticket and proof of his permanent residency in Australia. I always have a paper copy of my tickets and a Visa sticker in my passport. Interestingly enough an electronic ticket prints out on about 4 A4 pages...

 

[777]

The only time i print out is international itineraries. For everything else i use tripit.

 

[SFSC]

I always carry a print out of page one of airline e-tickets but usually just note hotel reservation numbers in my pocket paper diary.

I joined Tripit a couple of years ago but became frustrated and stopped using it when it always seemed to insist my trips originating from NTL were actually from NCL even though the confirmations forwarded to them showed NTL.

 

[trblvb]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

All great points and advice - thanks.

Just travelled Nth America and Europe staying at Hiltons - never got asked once for my confirmation No. etc. or any problem with a reservation. Customer service was excellent.

I live in Bris. - why would I bring a hard copy of reservation on short trip to Melb!

 

[tuapekastar]

Paper for me. I have this fear that I'm going to turn up to an airline/hotel desk and have them say they've never heard of me. And if my booking is not in their system, then electronics aint gonna help me (I don't use gmail, so that would not help).

That said, reading this reminds me I di not print my booking confirmation for ADL Hilton tonight (very unusual for me). Just checking online now reveals the booking is there (and has magically changed from a King Guestroom to a King Deluxe.

 

[trblvb]

This morning received an explanation (via email) from Customer Care Texas USA “a system error with hotel bookings” no other explanation or apology given.
I have 427,000 HHonors points – can anyone recommend an airline partner etc. whereby I can transfer the points before I cancel my account with Hilton.
Ps I have an AMEX Plat. Card and been busy signing up with Le Club Accor Hotels and received Platinum status, IHG Priority Club Rewards and received Gold status and Starwood SPG and received Gold status and haven’t even stayed one night yet.
No more LOYALTY or HHORRORS for me.