THE DC Hotel List

by tresdecu 24 Replies latest jw friends

  • tresdecu
    tresdecu

    So tonight finally had to make a decision about the DC. We missed Saturday and Sunday of the one we were assigned to. I was going to convieniently try to forget (been working most saturdays last few months) but she persisted tonight. Finally we just had to decide. I just want it to be over...we are driving over next weekend to a city about 5 hrs away. I like road trips and staying in hotels, so that part is fun for me.

    I told her it was too late, and probably all booked up, to try and contact the sec. to find out about the "approved" hotels that the WTS Inc gets kickbacks from, um I mean has deals with to help the brothers. So I insisted we just use Hotwire.com and be done with it. We got an amazing deal for a Courtyard by Marriot.

    She said "I hope this is OK" and "The Society frowns on that" omg. Yes I love her but, really?!

    I asked her "Do you think the Almighty God of the Universe really cares about a Hotel list?" - That made her defensive, so I lightented the mood a bit and dropped it.

    Hope the Hotel has a bar.

  • baltar447
    baltar447

    Good luck! I know what you mean about the bar lol.

  • losingit
    losingit

    They getkickbacks from the hotels? Geez! Is everything rigged?!

  • JakeM2012
    JakeM2012

    God Bless Hotwire.com and his simplifying of the arrangement. You can use your smartphone in the car to the convention, at the convention, even at the bar, to book your room.

    Oh, and Losingit, yes WTBTS has theocratic arrangements for sending or recommending certain hotels in exchange for money or other favors like rooms. In this day, other than money, why would they go to all the trouble? If you really want to blow your mind check out the threads on why these international conventions cost two to three times more than if you just used a travel agent.

  • tresdecu
    tresdecu

    The statement about the kickbacks probably isn't true. I think the "discount" is negociated (or used to be) by local elders who would visit the hotels. A few of the Elders in my old cong were in rooming and this is what they did around 10 years ago. Who knows though, it is certainly possible for a publishing corp to contact a few of the larger chains and get some kind of perk in return. Not really anything shady, just something any money making corporation would do.

  • joe134cd
    joe134cd

    It's funny because until I had come to this site I had never heard of such a thing. It hasn't got to this end of the world

  • DesirousOfChange
    DesirousOfChange

    Many big corporations have their own travel departments that are registered Travel Agents. This entitles them to a commission for booking hotels. The WTS could easily do this OR do it through a 3rd party.

    It seems smart, not corrupt.

    It is also not unusual for a group that books a "block" of rooms to get one room free for each block of 10 or 20 rooms purchased. We have been members of a group/club that traveled internationally, and the hotel did this for the group. The free room was a comp for the guest speaker or on some occasions its cost/value was split to reduce all the other room costs.

    It's smart, not corrupt.

    I think the WTS gets into their control issue on the hotel bookings. (Listen OBEY & Be Blessed) They want to control the bookings and maximize their power over hotels that fail to cooperate with their system, and maximize their perks (just like many of us do with our FFMile accounts). If you are an Elder or MS that fails to OBEY their "suggestion" on which hotel to use, then you are no longer considered to be "exemplary" in the Cong. That's a bit of a control thing IMO.

    Still, not corrupt or illegal.

    Doc

  • Mum
    Mum

    "Do you think the Almighty God of the Universe really cares about a hotel list?"

    Classic!

  • zed is dead
    zed is dead

    I had my "moment of Zen" in the 80's. We had our Service Meeting on Tuesdays, and the list was posted that night. I had a mobile phone, and called immediately after it was posted. All the good hotels were gone. So much for people waiting to book until the list came out.

    I booked with a hotel not on the list, that didn't kick back rooms as gratis to the WTS.

    zed

  • Splash
    Splash

    It's not corrupt, but neither is it transparent.

    And to coerce the publishers to use these hotels often at increased prices and distant locations, is far from loving or considerate.

    Splash

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