Getting to the Point(s) With Your Hotel Stays

THE ABC NEWS FIXER— -- Dear ABC News Fixer: I can’t seem to get all my Hotels.com points! It seems I can never get to the "free night stay" promised after 10 nights booked through them.

My husband’s bookings and my bookings somehow got made into two separate accounts. After months of emails and calls, they promised to merge the accounts. But it’s been three months and still no correction. We just used Hotels.com again and they credited that booking … then took it away!

- Norma Haygood, Eustis, Fla.

Got a consumer problem? The ABC News Fixer may be able to help. Click here to submit your problem online. Letters are edited for length and clarity.

Dear Norma: We feel your pain. The ABC News Fixer has been flying the same airline for years in hopes of someday getting a trip around the world. Maybe.

But we barely broke a sweat fixing this one. We got in touch with Hotels.com spokeswoman Taylor Cole, who was able to get this sorted out. The company merged the two accounts – which apparently were linked to two different email addresses – and now you have 11 nights on the books, which means you already can get a free stay. They also offered an apology (by email and phone call!) and threw in a $50 coupon toward your next booking to make up for the inconvenience.

Your issue is a good reminder to always use the same info to order items that will reap rewards points later (or just designate one person in your household to be the hotel booker). The Fixer also finds it useful to keep a little black book with all the rewards account logins and passwords, so you can easily check on various balances. With so many businesses offering loyalty rewards – such as hotels, airlines, supermarkets, coffee shops and shoe stores, to name but a few – it pays to stay organized.

- The ABC News Fixer

CLICK HERE to go to The ABC News Fixer homepage