Review of the www.ibsaconvention.org booking and Special Price

Da.Furious

New hotel booking for Regional Convention in UK

The website is called ibsaconvention.org. In order to be able to start booking you need a congregation number which is provided to the congregation by the branch.

Login Page:

Landing page after signing in with congregation number:

Clicking on any of these cards will open a list of approved hotel. And the person attending should be using the instructions provided: Booking via link, Telephone or email. As shown below form the Help:

Full list of available hotel with special rates for the JWs:

The only cheapest option is a Travelodge, which is like a motel (room only style) with anything extra to be paid for. All other near ones are above £100 per night.

Continued in in 2nd post.

Da Furious

Da.Furious

There will be no Part 2. I will post the remaining of the analysis in this Post.

I have selected Excel B for testing what rates are available and what is the process. On first glance seems that rich JWs have snapped the 4 star hotels near the venue since no rooms are available.

Unfortunately the special rates are not available – Had to change the booking to 3 people (2 adults and One Child in order to get a view of all available rooms):

And a family of three (2 adults and 1 child) have to shell £327 (US$ 494)

First test not a good deal due to availability and shockingly the provided price by the the branch the hotel are £100 and £120 whereas booking without the code is £109 which is in between.

Da Furious

Da.Furious

Final Part:

Moving to the cheap near lodge Travelodge. The price looks very cheap and interesting until you click on the price on the IBSAconvention link:

So staying three nights: Thursday until Saturday and checking out on Sunday will cost £247 (US$373). This averages to £82.

This booking can only be done via email and thru the ibsaconvention website:

So chances of getting a room after waiting 3 days are very slim.

So would booking directly be better, worse or the same?

Unfortunately there are no rooms available online which means either they ran out of them or some are still reserved for the convention - poor family will have to fork north of £300 to attend.

The interesting point is that there is another close one on the hotel list and it is much cheaper, but Not on the list to book via ibsaconvention.org.

So why is this not part of the list?

Overall, I don’t think the deals via the branch are good ones. I am not sure what rights (points or rewards) you will be giving away not to mention booking via third party booking agents may give you more discount.

Moreover, the page was online for UK JWs on 10 Jan and after 2 days there are no cheap places to book near the venue.

For twickenham, the options to attend for local congregations was Coaches, public transport and car. Whereas in this event there was no letter of video explaining how to get to the convention. The location of Excel is worst possible location in London for anyone living west, south west and north west of london. Its a business area and there is no direct transport links. Plus going by road via London may be an issue - on this note there was no mention to available parking (this costs at least £14 per day).

For the congregations in East London or north London this may be the a very good location for transport. Only time will show that moving to this venue is profit driven and nothing else for the WTS.

Hope this review helps!

Da Furious

Splash

I noticed the branch agreed rates have more severe terms and conditions too.

Normally, hotels are cancellable up to nearly the day you wish to travel.
The branch agreement is Pay Upfront - No Refunds.

Splash

Phizzy

They sure as fate ain't going into the Hotel Booking business just to get the Bros a good deal.

It would be interesting to know what the Rooms actually cost the Org., but of course we will not be able to get that info.

WTWizard

And what happens if they should, in their infinite wisdom, change the dates and/or venues of some of the Grand Boasting Sessions after the fact? Whether it be a valid reason (a structural failure in the original venue forces them to relocate, for instance) or not (they want to see who is willing to quit their jobs because they moved the Grand Boasting Session up a month to a busy holiday weekend, plus having to travel across town), that would render the whole thing invalid. How long before the page is updated?

My solution works even in that eventuality--say, if you live in Columbus OH and they change the venue from Columbus to Toledo and push up the date three weeks. If you don't go at all, you are not going to be affected. I can blow off a Grand Boasting Session in Syracuse on July 3-5 just as easily as one in Rochester or Buffalo on July 24-26. And I get to laugh at them when they waste what could be their final chance to get at least a little silver for the coming hyperinflation.

stuckinarut2

How strange that they are calling themselves IBSA convention??!!

I thought the org is "Jehovah's Witnesses"?

very strange....

Da.Furious

IBSA = International Bible Student Association

This is how they are registered in UK.

Checked today and the hotels within 10 minutes walking distance to the venue:

3 out of 5 have no more rooms and they have a message: requesting more rooms

The other 2 are >£100 per room not to mention parking car is extra.

The annoying thing, is that there was no announcement of available parking spaces for cars, if someone wants to drive there and get stuck crossing London after 5pm!

Oubliette

Didn't our Lord and Savior make his entrance into this world in humble accommodations because there was no room at the in?

How thoughtful that the modern organization has gotten into the hotel booking business.

Review of the www.ibsaconvention.org booking and Special Price

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