Opinion of price gouging in general and hotels jacking up their rates

[The Arizonan]

What is your opinion of price gouging and hotels jacking up their rates on the weekends?

[dead0man]

It's better for more people if prices go up in time of need for that thing (because people can't "stock up" so easily), but that's not why it should be legal.  It should be legal because people should be able to sell their time and stuff for whatever price the two parties involve agree to.


For those against "gouging", how do you feel about guys that buy a bunch of generators (or other needed resource) and drive to the latest emergency and selling the generators/needed resources for a hefty profit?

[dead0man]

oh, and of course hotels should be able to jack rates in time of short supply, otherwise most of them would go out of business.  That's how they survive.

[Fight for Trump]

Hotels don't jack up rates on weekends... unless maybe it's a hot weekend destination or there's some sort of event. Most city hotels pay the bills through weekday guests. In any case, it's not gouging - the IBM guys paying $199 a night on weekdays is what allows you to stay at the Hilton for $99 on the weekends.

[RINO Tom]

If prices are outrageous in a given city for popular weekends (see: Indianapolis), it will create more demand for more hotels to be built (see: Indianapolis).

[dead0man]

Where are the bleeding hearts telling us it's wrong to make a profit off of the misery of others?  I miss those guys.

[The Arizonan]

It's better for more people if prices go up in time of need for that thing (because people can't "stock up" so easily), but that's not why it should be legal.  It should be legal because people should be able to sell their time and stuff for whatever price the two parties involve agree to.


For those against "gouging", how do you feel about guys that buy a bunch of generators (or other needed resource) and drive to the latest emergency and selling the generators/needed resources for a hefty profit?

That sounds like a valid point in the first paragraph.

However, it doesn't seem reasonable for a Knights Inn, which is a motel on par with a Motel 8, to charge $239 for one night in a mediocre non-smoking, single bedroom in Atlantic City. If the same $239 charge was for two nights in the same room or even one night in a five- or four- star hotel, that would be different.

Did you know that if the Superbowl is held in a city, the hotels in the area charge several hundred dollars for each room even if the rooms are filthy as hell? Is that fair to anyone, especially for those who are in town for something that is not the Superbowl?

You can find videos of that crap on YouTube.

I do feel the same about guys that buy up all the supplies and sell them at high costs the same way I feel about price gouging.

[Fight for Trump]

That is called the free market.

[Hammy]

Having lived through several hurricanes and dealing with the effects of gas and food shortages, I think it's one of the most sadistic things one can do. That said, hotel stays for vacations aren't necessity things, so I don't think the term should really be applied here.

[The Arizonan]

That is called the free market.

Don't give me that crap.

Having lived through several hurricanes and dealing with the effects of gas and food shortages, I think it's one of the most sadistic things one can do. That said, hotel stays for vacations aren't necessity things, so I don't think the term should really be applied here.

What if you are on a road trip and you had to spend the night in city XYZ? What if your flight from one side to the country to the other got stubbed and you had to spend the night in the area of that airport? Regardless, jacking up prices is still dickish.


As a bonus, I refer you guys to this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkFIlxVLQv0

[dead0man]

That sounds like a valid point in the first paragraph.

of course it is...think about it.  If you don't charge more for batteries, the first guy there is going to get what he needs, and why not a few extra.."just in case, ya know?".  The second and third guy does the same thing.  Now the fourth through sixth guy gets no batteries.  If you charge more for them, the first guy is going to get what he needs and no more..."too damn expensive!"  If you charge regular rate for a hotel, even in times of demand, the first family to stop off is going to get a room...and "hey honey, lets get an extra room for the kids and the mother-in-law nudge nudge, know what I mean?", so is the second family....screw the third and forth family, "keep driving suckers!"

You must be logged in to read this quote.

seems a lot to me, but I don't know the hotel market in AC.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

You have no idea how the hotel industry works.  If you force, at gun point (because that's what it means when you pass laws), hoteliers to have a set price on rooms at all times, two things are guarunfunkintee'd to happen:
1.fewer hotel rooms overall
2.more expensive hotel rooms everywhere

There is no way around it.  End of story.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I'm not talking about the guys that buy all the sh**t up where the emergency is at and resells them (though I don't really have a problem with that either), I'm talking about the guys 2 states over that buys a bunch of <needed resource> where it's not particularly needed and transports it, on his own dime and time, to the place of the emergency and sells the <needed resource> for a high price.

[muon2]

Hotel rooms are a limited resource because they are tied to a particular location. One can't ship excess hotel rooms from one city to another if there is short term need. If there is an event in high demand at a city the supply of rooms will drop. The consumers are competing for the rooms, so in response to the high demand and dwindling supply hotels will respond by raising the rates on the remaining rooms. There's nothing sinister in any of that.

One protection available to consumers is the ability to make reservations well in advance of their need, locking in lower rates when a high demand is expected. I did exactly that a year ago in advance of the total eclipse (Aug 21, 2017 - see my signature) this year. I had reservations for a resort 2 hours north of Boise but family members would be arriving the weekend just before the eclipse, and I didn't have enough room. So last August I booked 2 nights (Aug 19-20, 2017) in a suite at a Hampton Inn in Boise for $134/night. By late September all the rooms were gone and small rooms in nearby hotels were going for almost $300/night if they were available at all. I expected that would happen and I planned in advance. Both the hotels and I were reacting to the anticipated consumer demand, and I didn't see the price changes as gouging, just recognition of the limited resource of rooms.

[The Arizonan]

Hotel rooms are a limited resource because they are tied to a particular location. One can't ship excess hotel rooms from one city to another if there is short term need. If there is an event in high demand at a city the supply of rooms will drop. The consumers are competing for the rooms, so in response to the high demand and dwindling supply hotels will respond by raising the rates on the remaining rooms. There's nothing sinister in any of that.

One protection available to consumers is the ability to make reservations well in advance of their need, locking in lower rates when a high demand is expected. I did exactly that a year ago in advance of the total eclipse (Aug 21, 2017 - see my signature) this year. I had reservations for a resort 2 hours north of Boise but family members would be arriving the weekend just before the eclipse, and I didn't have enough room. So last August I booked 2 nights (Aug 19-20, 2017) in a suite at a Hampton Inn in Boise for $134/night. By late September all the rooms were gone and small rooms in nearby hotels were going for almost $300/night if they were available at all. I expected that would happen and I planned in advance. Both the hotels and I were reacting to the anticipated consumer demand, and I didn't see the price changes as gouging, just recognition of the limited resource of rooms.

I sort of agree with you. I don't think hotel prices should be completely rigid and I don't mind price increases below a certain threshold. Personally, I still think price increases beyond 100% are asking for too much.

If you're going to jack up the prices to several hundred dollars for one room per night, at least make sure the rooms are very clean and in very good condition. There are hotels that have charged that much for atrocious rooms during the Superbowl and that is a cardinal sin.

[The Arizonan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkFIlxVLQv0

This s**t ought to be illegal.

[dax00]

I'll defend the right for businesses to charge whatever they damn well please. If you really want a better deal, you can find it elsewhere. If supply is nonexistent, you should have prepared for that.

[bagelman]

I'll defend the right for businesses to charge whatever they damn well please. If you really want a better deal, you can find it elsewhere. If supply is nonexistent, you should have prepared for that.

Please go to your profile page and select "forum profile information" on the bottom to correct your avatar.

[dead0man]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkFIlxVLQv0

This s**t ought to be illegal.

A.that's gross at any price
2.what law do you want to pass to make hotel rooms 100% bug free....'cause that would be impossible
III.only a moron would rent a room for a night at a Super 8 for $500 unless someone's life was on the line.  There are couches at the train station, bus station, airport (whatever you came in on) you can crash on for a few hours.  If you're too fancy to do that, then you need to learn to plan your life better or this kind of thing will keep happening to you.

[Alabama_Indy10]

That is called the free market.

Don't give me that crap.

Having lived through several hurricanes and dealing with the effects of gas and food shortages, I think it's one of the most sadistic things one can do. That said, hotel stays for vacations aren't necessity things, so I don't think the term should really be applied here.

What if you are on a road trip and you had to spend the night in city XYZ? What if your flight from one side to the country to the other got stubbed and you had to spend the night in the area of that airport? Regardless, jacking up prices is still dickish.


As a bonus, I refer you guys to this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkFIlxVLQv0

That "crap" is the truth.