Can a hotel refuse to honor your reservation because you won’t show your identification?
That’s not a hypothetical question. Nick Cataldo contacted me earlier this week because he’d been denied a room at a Sleep Inn property in Birmingham, Ala. Here’s his story.
When I was asked for and declined to show ID, a manager who was contacted by telephone spoke with me and refused me admittance unless I showed ID. I offered to pay cash for the room, to avoid suspicion of credit-card fraud, but this was still unacceptable.
The manager then refused to authorize cancellation of my reservation. After I left, my credit card was charged for one night’s stay. The charge was removed by American Express only after two months.
I asked Sleep Inn about this requirement to show ID. David Peikin, a company spokesman, said the hotel chain doesn’t require IDs to be shown by guests.
As a franchisor, we don’t own or operate any hotels. So while we don’t have any rules or regulations that require a hotel to request identification, these are independently owned and operated businesses that make their own operational decisions.
Cataldo did a little research to find out if the hotel was within its rights to require an ID.
No law requires US domestic travelers to carry photo ID. Hotels and hotel chains cannot assume that a person making a reservation will bring a photo ID. Given guests’ real concern these days about identity theft if the hotel records information on an ID, hotels should offer written privacy policies and should not be allowed to make or retain copies of the ID as a condition of admittance.
When an ID requirement is not stated and the guest cannot or will not show an ID, cancellation of the reservation on request should be the industry standard.
Alabama’s lodging laws make no specific mention of an ID requirement. As far as I can tell, the relevant statute, Section 34-15-11, just mentions a special contract.
A hotel may require any guest, or person proposing to become a guest, to enter into a special contract as to the duration, kind and place of board, entertainment or lodging to be furnished such guest and the price therefor to be paid. If such guest refuses to enter into such contract and to accept board, entertainment or lodging under the terms and conditions so proposed by the hotel, said hotel may refuse to receive or entertain such guest and because of such refusal shall not incur any liability whatever. Such special contract must be in writing and signed by both parties, and by such contract a hotel may vary its liability for the safety of the goods of its guests.
I can’t think of any reason why Sleep Inn should have required a guest to show an ID — particularly one who offered to pay in cash. It had no right to keep his money, and American Express was correct to refund his money.
But maybe I’m missing something. Can you think of a reason why an ID might be necessary for a hotel stay?
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I can see the hotel not accepting a credit card payment without an ID. Was the guest given the option of leaving a “security deposit” in addition to paying in cash? The deposit could be used to cover any incidentals, just like a credit card on file would. If this option was not given, then Sleep Inn should not have charged the credit card of the prospective guest since they were the ones who refused to admit him.
The statement “Hotels and hotel chains cannot assume that a person making a reservation will bring a photo ID” is ridiculous, though. Who travels without any form of ID? I suppose this man was just refusing on principle, but I can’t think of any legitimate reason that someone would refuse to produce ID to back up his valid credit card purchase. Why do some people insist on making their lives more difficult just to prove a point?
Possible reasons for the hotel property manager/owner wanting to know who is staying at the property:
1. History of criminal activities on the property
2. An attempt to block usage by patrons seeking a hot-sheet facility
3. History of deceptive patrons – Person A pays for room, Persons B, C, and D stay in the roon and trash it
I am not sure why a one night rental at a motel would be a lot different than leasing an apartment for 2 weeks. The owner would be crazy not to know their customers.
I have not been asked for ID, that I can remember, but 100% of the time I am required to show a credit card with my name which matches the name on the reservation.
I wonder if Sleep’s sister brand, Comfort Inns, asked Mohammed Atta for his ID when he stayed at their Portland,ME property the night of Sept.10/2001.
“Let me see your papers!”
Absolutely I can think of reasons why he’d have to show ID!
Great that he offered to pay cash for the room. What if he then left the room with thousands of dollars in damages? Who are they going to go after for repayment of the costs?
It’s not he like he was BUYING the room, he was RENTING it. When was the last time you were able to RENT anything without showing ID? I can’t even rent a video without it. Don’t the companies have a right to know who’s renting their stuff?
The idea of showing an ID for every transaction on a Credit Card drives me insane. I did discover that in a retail environment, the store is not permitted by their merchant agreement with the card provider to refuse a transaction because of lack of ID. I wonder if the same applies for accommodation providers?
I know that Mastercard has a section of their website where you can lodge a complaint that a store has requested ID before completing a transaction and they’ll investigate and remind the store they’re breaching the merchant agreement. The only thing a store can do is check the signature on the card and if it’s illegible, ask you to sign again.
There are numerous reasons why guests should show id’s, some of which have been mentioned above. It is a matter of security for both the guests and the hotel.
Bizarrely, I have seen numerous times when people tried to check into a room that wasn’t theirs to cause problems for the authentic reservation holder. On almost all of these occasions, a nasty divorce or affair was involved. A man thought his wife was having an affair, thought he knew who it was with, and when she claimed to be going out of town, he called around town checking for reservations in either of their names. He found one, checked in as the man with no id, and when the wife arrived, she was listed as an additional guest on the room, so she was given her keys and sent up. She opened the door to find her unhappy husband who had been drowning his sorrows with minibar liquor. He promptly started beating her.
That kind of thing only happens once before a hotel adopts stringent id requirements.
If I were at that hotel, I too would have turned him away, but I probably wouldn’t have charged him.
@ Jess: Asking for an ID with a credit card is actually a violation of the credit card agreement the merchant has with the credit cards companies. The Consumerist has good articles about that.
While it sounds all to reasonable, especially with all the ID theft, that merchants ask for an ID with a credit card, credit card companies work very hard to keep their data safe. They feel they do enough, and if a merchant feels they don’t, the merchant should not accept their cards.
As a private person, I get very tired of all the ID-ing everywhere. There is no need for everybody to know who I am and what I buy, and worse to store that information.
A credit card is an alternative means of money. As long as I pay for whatever I buy, I prefer strongly that merchants do not keep my personal info. Especially, because most merchants these days belong to large conglomerates that use this information to track you, and to target you with advertisements.
I do not want to be tracked. I do not want to be targeted. I just want to buy a product, pay for it, and do my thing. It’s nobody’s business what my thing is.
Maybe he was wearing a funny looking vest and left his donkey parked out front taking up a handicapped space?
Since Mr. Cataldo had no problem giving Chris his name, he probably wasn’t at the hotel for nefarious purposes, but I can understand the suspicion on the part of the hotel manager. At Target, when I pay with a credit card, I have to show my ID. I don’t mind, because this means someone doesn’t get to steal my identity. Having said that, when Mr. C. offered to pay with cash, the manager probably should have let him have the room. However, let us all remember that hotels are not obligated to allow ANYONE to stay! They are private business and there is always the implied right of refusal of service. The manager should not have charged the AMEX card, though.
And being from Alabama, and familiar with Birmingham, I wonder where this hotel is in the city. If it were in a prosperous area like Hoover or Homewood, the lack of ID doesn’t make sense. In some areas of the city, however, I wouldn’t let someone have a room with no ID, either. They might have a load of Red Devil lye and pseudoephedrine in the trunk of the car, with bad intentions for it. And it happens– believe me. Hardly a week goes by when we don’t hear about someone busted for cooking meth in a hotel room somewhere.
But honestly, people. Even if showing your ID does get a little annoying at times, other than a 30-second inconvenience, what difference does it make if you are asked for it? I’m a private person too, but I also know people. I doubt anyone at the desk at your average hotel is going to remember my name 30 seconds after I get on the elevator. I know this because I have to tell them who I am when I check out. and I’ve never had a hotel actually make a copy of my ID. They just look at it and give it back to me. I wouldn’t allow them to make a copy in the first place. We’re not talking the Four Seasons, where the front desk is paid to remember the names of those who are paying $500-plus for their rooms.
Mr. C was right to be annoyed about the charge on his AMEX, but times being what they are, the whole ID issue should have been a non-issue.
Showing an ID is to prevent fraud, pure and simple. Since reservations are rarely made in person, but on via phone or the internet, it is just a simple way to verify that the person who made the reservation is claiming the reservation. In all my travels, the person behind the counter just looks at the ID and doesn’t make a copy of it. Probably verifies my name and possibly my birthdate — since many properties will not rent to minors.
There is also a huge difference between buying a physical product in a store and renting a product, in this case a night’s lodging. Home Depot will not ask for an ID when you buy a power tool, but it probably will if you rent one. In both cases, the merchant wants to know who exactly is using the service in case the returned product, be it tool or room, is not in the same condition when it was first provided.
I still don’t understand what the big deal is with showing an ID!? How is the hotel to know if I am who I say I am? I just don’t get it. If you have nothing to hide, just show the damn ID!!
Lets see, I was (required) to give my name and email address to this blog.
Hotels or any business has the right to protect itself by enforcing its rules of service.
Its more concerning to me that Nick did not want to show his id. Why Nick? Something to hide. Maybe if Nick invested his money into a hotel then he can set the rules. Till then Suck it up or sleep in the car!
Ok, folks, cool off and slow down here. As much as I am totally aggravated by personal life intrusions by government or anyone else, I am four-square on the side of the Sleep Inn (or others in that category) for requiring an ID.
I do not pretend to have all the answers and do not brag about having traveled for over 36+ years and have stayed in well over 3,000 nights on the road (avg. of 120-130 per year), I can understand where the motels are coming from and, indeed, some of you bloggers have it right: there is no reason to be upset by their requiring that you have ID; afterall, who today travels without an ID?
Before you go ballistic on this ask yourself this: would you rent a room in your house (assuming you would do so) and NOT require some type of ID? Or, better yet: If YOU owned that Sleep Inn – regardless of it’s location, but the way – would it not matter to you who was checking in or how they paid as long as they paid for the room. If you answered “YES” to each of those questions you need a lesson in life as it has become today IMHO.
Patrick C (Atlanta)
Identification should be asked for, their are many reasons why. If a person won’t show their ID, what are they hiding, that would be the first thing going through my mind. Safety first even if the person has nothing to hide,
Mr C was right to be upset when his Amex was still charge after asking to have his reservation cancelled.
We’re not talking a purchase here; we’re talking the RENTAL of someone’s property. I’d want to know who the person staying in my hotel was.
And anyone who’s ever worked in the hospitality industry knows, people are FAMOUS for trashing hotel rooms. It’s not just the prom-party crowd. Grown, professional-appearing adults have been known to cause vast amounts of damages to hotels and motels. If someone trashes a $100 per night room, causing $1000 repair plus a week or two’s worth of lost income while the room was being repaired, I’d surely want to be able to pinpoint to my attorneys/ the cops as to who did the damage.
If some sly a-hole looking for a quick hideout happened upon the Sleep Inn in Birmingham, saw the registry, used Nick C.’s name and trashed the place, causing him to pony up for a lawyer/bail/restitution because of the imposter, I’m sure the Nick would be whining how Sleep Inn SHOULD’VE checked for ID.
There’s a fine line between acting on principle and being a d-bag.
I can’t remember many times when I *haven’t* been asked for ID at check-in. Clearly this is to confirm that your reservation is, in fact, your reservation. I don’t understand this man’s beef, at all. Does he also refuse to show ID at bars? Private businesses can do what they like, folks. And generally I’m happy to know the hotel I’m sleeping in has tabs on all my fellow guests…
“I wonder if Sleep’s sister brand, Comfort Inns, asked Mohammed Atta for his ID when he stayed at their Portland,ME property the night of Sept.10/2001.”
Nice patriotic death comment… do fries come with your ridiculous guilt?
“Lets see, I was (required) to give my name and email address to this blog.”
Actually… you werent. Who says my email address is my real one? And I’m surely not actually named Passing Through.
Very interesting discussion. I totally can understand the reasons why they need identification, but how they keep the records of it is another matter…. Safe enough? I’m not so sure.
@Jasper: The merchant is allowed to ASK to see ID, they just can’t refuse the transaction based solely on the refusal to produce ID, according to the CC companies.
I still think that there are other reasons that a hotel could request to see ID (not make a copy of the information, but confirm the identity and age of the guest per their policies). They should not have charged Mr. Cataldo’s AmEx card, but they reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, especially before they have actually checked in and signed any sort of agreement.
I never understood the big deal about showing an ID. I’d be upset if someone wrote it down or copied it. Unlike some of the others though, I think it is very reasonable for the hotel to keep the money. As far as I ‘m concerned this was a no-show situation.
There is no reason not to have an ID in this day and age.
I can’t recall the last time I was asked to show ID at a hotel in the US, only for my credit card. I have to wonder if the signature on his credit card was worn off, or never signed?
In the flip side, I can’t recall checking in to a hotel outside of the US without having to show my passport. This seems to be an SOP.
What’s the big deal, show some sort of ID and get on with your day.
I thought most States have law requiring a renter to be an adult. And Hotel Operators can legally deny room accommodation to minors. So without some form of Picture ID, how does the Hotel Operator confirm that the renter is NOT a minor?
Jess,
This is a Sleep Inn in Alabama. Hilton, Sheraton and even the Waldorf don’t ask for I.D. It’s probably just some clerk, middle manager who is living back in the 50’s and didn’t like the person’s accent, name or some other illogical item. I guess Sleep Inn goes on the list of “who to avoid at all costs”
AMEX, Visa and Mastercard set the rules on a merchant accepting their cards. They all do not allow a merchant to require i.d. in order to accept their card. They are to match signatures on he slip and the back of the card and if they have a problem they can call the authorization center for a Code 10 to confirm a charge.
In fact for the people out there who put “see i.d.” on the back of their cards, the merchant is supposed to get a signature at that moment or refuse to accept the card. A call to the authroization center for someone refusing to sign the card will be the card’s confiscation by the merchant.
The real question is when are people going to stop corporations from controling our lives. Most ID theft occurs at point of sale.
I guess it comes down to this, I am the customer — it’s my way or I take my business elsewhere to someplace that appreciates me.
“Lets see, I was (required) to give my name and email address to this blog”
I did not give my real name or my real email address to log on here.
My last comment I used a different name and made up email, and my next comment I will make up yet another name and email.
I do, however, tallywack regularly … often while reading the sniveling of all the whinypants who come here to bitchnmoan when their stupidity catches up to them.
Glad to see that we all agree on having the need to carry a proof of your identity at all times in all places – which ever they are – for safety reasons.
Let’s separate some things:
1 – Showing ID and Credit Card payment are not related in this case. Focus – the issue here is suspicious behaviour. Hoteliers/Store keepers/Customer Service attendants are briefed on customers with suspicious behaviour – refusing to show ID is considered as such. Every where in today’s world!
2 – Showing ID IS NOT equal to registering your personal details into a company’s database for marketing use. Everyone can decide if they want this to happen or not
3 – Reserving anything implies acceptance of the terms, conditions&policies of that company. For example, if the cancelation policy at Restaurant X is 24h and Nick Cataldo CHOOSES not to dine on the same day – he has to pay for blocking that space (table, room, etc). Though but true. Thus Amex was wrong to refund something Nick “agreed” to pay for when he reserved the room.
Personally, as a hotelier, I would’ve reported you to the police on the basis of making a fuss about identifying yourself – assuming that if ID makes you so nervous then you must have something to hide. If you were unlucky they would’ve passed it to FBI :-)
As for registrations in blogs, site, etc with made up “screen names”… This is the 21st century people and there’s, besides other things, something called IP address. If you get up to something dodgy you’ll get caught easily!
My point is: protect your identity from misuse – the use of personal identifiable information like name, numbers, address, etc. Prove your identity gladly and promptly.
From my training in Safety&Security, the moment you’re identified you stop being an individual with suspecious intentions.
@mss11af
Most of what you said made sense. You went off the reservation though when you stated that you would have reported Mr. Cataldo to the police for not showing you identification. That would have given the police a good chuckle.
Reading these comments is both sad and infuriating. The decision to not show ID should be taken as a stance for individual rights and the freedom to identify oneself to whom they choose. It’s is sad that the majority of folks seem of the mindset that if they did nothing wrong, have nothing to hide, are not doing anything illegal, then they should show it. What happened to thinking about individual right to privacy and invasion of privacy? We should all be thinking that way instead of offering up to anyone anywhere anytime our ID. I’m very restrictive and private about showing my ID. We should all be. To do otherwise cheapens and devalues it for all of us. I hope for a day when showing an ID is an exception not a rule, when the “kooks” and “suspicious persons” are those that offer up ID without hesitation instead of those that value the precious and unique value that ID has.
A hotel that I was GM of in Rhode Island had a local ordinance requiring identification, but that’s a local thing and we had a copy of the law posted at the Front Desk. I see this trend more and more as I check into hotels across the country. I experienced it myself last week in Texas. Additionally, try purchasing something in Orlando or Las Vegas on a credit card without an ID. It’s become the norm and I think as hoteliers, we need some level of protection.
I am always asked for ID when I rent a hotel room. If I pay with cash, a personal card, a company credit card, or even when the block of rooms is prepaid as is sometimes done with large meetings at my firm. I have been asked for ID at the Mariott, the Sheraton, the Hilton and although I have never stayed at the Waldorf=Astoria in NYC it is but blocks from my firm’s office on Madison and they do require ID.
It is not a matter of the credit card transaction, as we can see from he above account so all of those whinging about credit card rules can stop. As noted he was not allowed to rent the room with cash without showing an ID.
An innkeeper must verify the identity of his guests as he turns a portion of his property over to them. It is certainly for the merchant’s protection but also for the guests as well. Imagine if the guest had a medical emergency and could not speak. A guest with no identification cannot assist medical personnel in contacting his family to obtain a medical history. If the hotel has his details on file and has had a glance at his license or passport to verify that he indeed is John Q Public so the doctor can call the wife to tell him that her husband had a stroke and find out he is on blood thinners or some such pertinent information.
Certainly the hotel may establish reasonable rules and policies. A policy that they will not rent to Irishmen is unacceptable, a policy that that will not rent to someone who refuses to show identification is certainly reasonable.
There is no right to a motel room, while it is a public accomodation the owner is entitled to payment, and to know who is staying in his hotel. If he tried this nonsense overseas he would be cooling his heels on the curb.
I think Mr. Cataldo is being a bit childish, especially since I was able in less than two minutes using LexisNexis find out his home address, voter registration information, vehicles owned, real estate transactions, telephone number, and even traffic tickets in New York State. If anyone thinks not showing a motel clerk your drivers license is protecting your privacy they are sadly mistaken.
I agree 100% with Matthew and if I knew that a hotel I was staying at did not check IDs I would be cautious about staying there. Liberty Freedom guy, as it has been pointed out many times, you are not BUYING a hotel room, you are renting it. The hotel has many reasons for knowing who you are, for your safety, for the safety of other guests, and for the safety of hotel property. If you want to make sure that the hotel does not photocopy your license, and keeps it in view of you, fine, but they can write down the information on it, and if you don’t like that, then you maybe should stay in rent by the hour properties.
And I don’t think that the police in some places would take the complaint of a hotel owner about a patron unwilling to show ID lightly. I live near an airbase and I know for sure that the local police would take such a phone call seriously.
The issue in this case appears to be that the hotel did not state their policy, attempted to enforce their policy which was not mandated by any law and then would not return the money after refusing service. A company cannot refuse service and then charge you for their refusal.
I don’t show my ID ever, if necessary I go to stores or hotels that don’t require this. For those people that want to show their ID, isn’t that the beauty of the free society we are part of?
Well, it can be (ridiculously?) argued so is the property’s decision to “request” for ID as a stance for their own individual (or rather collective) rights and the freedom to choose whom to do business with without fear of potential liability. I somewhat agree it’s somewhat sad some (if not many) folks think someone has something to hide if s/he refuses to show their ID, but there’s one report too many of bad events arising from false identification to (unfortunately) create the “need” for showing an ID for verification.
I realize you think showing your ID “devalues” your privacy. But not everyone sees it that way as many other people here commented, and whether they “should” see it that way or not is solely up to them to decide even if you or others tell them they “should”.
Besides, asking for an ID isn’t necessarily a “rule”. It’s a decision of the property or so unless any applicable law in their area specifically requires it, and one certainly doesn’t have to go along with them if they don’t agree.
Speaking of which, I guess that’s where it boils down to: what people (dis)agree on and can work with.
It is truly a question sometimes of what information exactly they are looking at. I had a hotel once make a zerox copy of my Driver’s license. I wanted to ask for it back upon check out and of course she explained it as policy as everyone does. I have nothing to hide but with everything going on today my privacy is a concern along with my safety so its kind of a toss up. I just don’t do what makes me feel uncomfortable and freedom of choice hasn’t been completely obliterated yet
It is only common sense that you present an ID to check into a hotel. Hotels need to protect themselves and know who is going into their rooms. There is absolutely no reason for someone to walk the streets without an ID. In fact, it is the law in New York City to have an ID on you at all times. If you are stopped by the police for any reason and do not have an ID, you are going to jail. In this case, what should have happened is that the manager should have cancelled the reservation without penalty and sent the person on their way. Unfortunately in this industry, people tend to become robotic in their work and fail to think outside of the box.
michelle said: It is truly a question sometimes of what information exactly they are looking at. I had a hotel once make a zerox copy of my Driver’s license. I wanted to ask for it back upon check out and of course she explained it as policy as everyone does.
————————–
Could that be construed as identity theft? By making a photocopy of personally identifiable information, that person (and who know how many countless others) have your personal information available at their fingertips to do with what they please. I’d have remarked to the hotel desk agent that if she didn’t return it, you’d file a police report for “Identity Theft.”
actually, I always ask the vendor that when I pay for something with a credit card to ask for photo ID.
On the back of all my credit cards, instead of my signature, I put “please ask for photo ID”
This way, they are assured (as am I) that the person making the credit card purchase is indeed the card holder! It’s just a safety precaution.
Ed
web/gadget guru
My, an awful lot of you do seem to like the ID state. Which is your right. It used to be a free country.
Some of us, though, have been stalked, and really appreciated the ability to move around anonymously.
Sometimes that stalking is done by a police officer, an employee of a credit card company, or someone else who’s able to look at records.
There’s a tension here. I don’t disagree with reasons for wanting ID, I’d just ask you all to recognize that there are reasons for wanting anonymity which are also valid.
Over 30 years ago. I was a night clerk at a hotel in one of the top 50 metro areas in the US. If you showed me a credit card, you were in. If you were paying cash, show me some ID. I took driver’ s licenses, student IDs, even a pistol permit. The story doesn’t say whether he showed a credit card or not before refusing to show another ID.
Once you had a room key, you could eat in the restaurant, drink in the bar, and call Australia for hours without paying for it on the spot. Knowing who you were helped prevent the hotel from eating these costs if you left.
The chain took credit cards for guaranteed reservations, but at the time the whole system at the franchise was manual, and the cards never got billed for no-shows. Today, they probably would be billed, but I would certainly refund a deposit for anyone turned away by the staff.
If Mr. Cataldo had shown up back then without his wallet, and if I had a good card number on the reservation, I probably would have let him in over his signature and address. On at least one occasion when it was extremely busy, I just handed a key to one of our regulars without so much as a signature. I also turned away someone who put cash on the counter, scribbled an illegible signature, but would not print a name and address. (He had just met a new ‘friend’ in the bar.)
Hotels can get paid by card issuers without the card imprint by certifying “signature on file.” It was quite commonly required when guests would check out before their breakfast tab or last long distance call was posted, even though we asked every one of them about it. Not that they were dishonest, but by the time they came to the desk, their heads were already wrapped up in their first sales call or meeting.
Without a credit card or a contact address, the hotel is out of luck.
I don’t have an ID card.
I don’t have a driver’s license.
I and millions of other people (mostly senior citizens) do not have an ID card.
Should we be unable to rent a hotel room in another city? To attend a funeral of a friend? To visit relatives? To do business? To take a vacation?
Many people who were born before the current mania for identification can’t prove where and when they were born. The world you commenters are trying to create would turn all of us into unpersons. Unfortunately for your fantasy, we are here and we demand to be civilly treated.
Los Angeles is the worst place I’ve ever been for this hotel-ID mania. I went for a business meeting with a lawyer. I took a cab from his home to a nearby hotel where I had a reservation. I think it was a Hyatt. They refused me the room. I got back into the cab and asked him to take me to another nearby hotel. We were refused there. We went to almost 30 hotels! Finally we found a flophouse across from the racetrack where they didn’t care who you were, they just wanted your $50. I barricaded the door with the furniture and was awakened at 4AM by someone banging at the door. When I opened it a crack, they realized I wasn’t the guy they were looking for, and left me alone. When my lawyer friend found out what happened, he was horrified. He came over to pick me up the next day and make sure I was delivered safely to my next destination.
You are unlikely to see me visiting Los Angeles again!
And if the whole country goes this way, it will be time to leave, for good.
Here’s one that seems to have been missed… Don’t most reservations include that whole “non-transferable” clause?
For example, if I make a reservation through a travel agent or Priceline or whatever, only to discover that – for whatever reason – I can’t go, I am not allowed to just give the reservation information to my sorority sister and let her have the room at my killer-online-discounted-rate. If she wants to take over my reservation, I have to pay some sort of reservation change fee (maybe, if a change is allowed to include the name of the reservation holder) or I’m out the cost of the reservation and she has to make her own in her own name.
Far as I can tell, *that* is most likely what was going on here.
PS: I’m throwing down the BS flag on AnnOnyMous
You had enough ID to buy a computer, then get a telephone line and internet connection to make this post. Since the computer was most likely not paid for in cash, you had to have some form of ID to either a) open up a bank account or b) get a credit card. You also need ID to get a phone line and an internet service plan. Social security numbers work well for that, and if you have an SSN you can get a state ID.
On the EXTREME chance that you made the post on something like a library or work computer, your argument still won’t hold water, since the chain of evidence required for you to gain access to either of those eventualities still requires some form of ID.
If, on the other hand, you are so poor/old/illegally present in the U.S. that you have to borrow a friend/relative’s computer to surf travel blogs to rant on, you need to reassess your priorities.
Did it ever occur to you that the better hotels (even the Motel 6) ask for IDs to keep from turning into flophouses like the one you *chose* to stay at? What, you didn’t think to get your lawyer to go in, rent the room at the Hyatt, then hand the key to you in the parking lot? They don’t check IDs at check out, numbskull. then again, if your lawyer didn’t trust you enough to sign for a room in his name, why should we trust your opinion here?
Get with the rational world and stop the Heinlein-esque hyperbole.
I work in the hotel industry and we require a valid credit card at check in. We authorize that credit card so we know that person has enough money to pay for the room (or any incidentals|). If the credit card is valid, we do not ask for their ID, but for them to just show us the physical credit card so we know it is theirs.
If the persons credit card declines or that person does not own a credit card, we require cash payment up front (cash or debit) with a valid ID so we have a contact address in the event that the room is damaged or anything is stolen. At a previous resort I worked at we also asked for a security deposit if they paid with cash and it is returned to the guest upon check out and inspection of their room.
An ID is purely for security reasons on behalf of the hotel. It is much harder to track down someone who has committed a crime or done any damage within a hotel who has paid with cash and/or used a fake name.
As for charging the AMEX, he was probably classified as a no show and therefore charged under the hotels rules. If it had been me I wouldn’t have charged him – just denied him the room. Can’t be bothered arguing with someone, would have just tried to sell that room again to someone else.
so much legal misinformation
1. A hotel is reasonable in not allowing a room if you don’t show ID. That is part of what is reasonable and customary. If you cannot then you broke the contract and the hotel has no obligation to refund your money on those grounds.
2. New York does not have an ID requirement. You are NOT required to have ID in New York or any other city, anecdotal information notwithstanding
3. Writing see ID on your credit card is the worse thing possible unless you sign it as well. If you only write SEE ID, then should your credit card be stolen, the thief will merely create an ID in your name, but with his signature.
4. To the person without a driver’s license, every state issues state ID cards with the same legal force so that’s a non-starter argument. And the fact that you went to 30 hotels in LA before finding a flop house should be illustrative.
5. Airline tickets are non-transferable. Hotel reservations are effectively transferable. A second person’s name can usually be added to the reservation which will allow them to check in, even if you aren’t there. Not sure about Pricelien reservations.
From the story it looks like he initially tried to use a credit card. As is the norm, ID was requested. When he refused to show his ID that probably started to raise some red flags and I don’t blame hotel for refusing service.
@ Carver
>>5. Airline tickets are non-transferable. Hotel reservations are effectively transferable. A second person’s name can usually be added to the reservation which will allow them to check in, even if you aren’t there. Not sure about Pricelien reservations.<<
It depends if the traveler is booking via the “transparent” or “opaque” method. Normal booking are treated just like any other hotel booking, but opaque booking are non-transferrable per their terms of service, which also explicitly states that a traveler must present ID and a CC with the same name as the reservation. Hotwire treats hotels the same way.
I have worked in hotel management for eight years now. There are many reasons to require ID. One is to verify the address of the person using a credit card is actually that person. I have lost revenue, due to the fact that a guest “disputed” the charges(which were legitimate) after leaving the hotel, and the credit card company asks for “proof” the guest was there. One main reason payments were declined was the lack of an address for the guest. Another reason my hotel’s have required ID is due to damage to the room, theft of everything from refridgerators to TV’s (I have even heard of mattresses going the wayside), And there is less chance of damage or theft if the person knows we have an address to send the police/lawyers to. In the worst case scenarios it is for emergency purposes, such as accident or death; in order to locate next of kin; which I have had to do more than once. For cash paying guest’s we usually require a deposit and a xerox copy of the ID…once again for damage/theft/lawyers and police. It’s all about protecting the assests, revenue and other guest’s of the hotel.
I can remember when this was a free country. When Americans traveling abroad were shocked at having to turn in their passports at the hotel desk or even at a police station . WE don’t do that sort of thing, we proudly declared. Now every pointy-headed fool with a minimum wage job can inspect any aspect of your life in order to make himself feel important. As for that 50-year-old man with a receding hairline, I’ m willing to bet that he’s not a minor. I wonder if you have to prove your sex. Why not? Inquiring minds desperately need to know.
The U.S. still is, actually, though that probably depends on one’s definition of a “free country”. Try living in countries like Cuba or Iran.
It’s unfortunate more inconvenient restrictions are being made. But it’s mainly because certain situations practically warrant it, even though some aren’t what arguably many people really want to do if it can be helped.
You should always have an ID with you Dummy. In case you drop dead so the city trash can pick up your rotting lazy corpse. Didn’t your mother teach you any better. I really enjoy refusing service to people who are :
A- Too lazy to carry ID
B- Jackasses who refuse to carry ID because they like to start trouble.
We are a small luxury hotel. No shady people without ID’s stay here. take your scams somewhere else.