Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: IETF 104 Registration and Hotel Reservations Openo

["Deen, Glenn (NBCUniversal)" <[e-mail]>]

> On Jan 6, 2019, at 12:24 PM, Lou Berger <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
> Obviously we can't change existing contracts, but we can stop asking that the "no lower rates offered" clause be inserted in future contracts -- again, it is my understanding (which of course can simply be wrong) that this clause was first added to hotel contracts by the IETF, specifically the IAD at that time.
> 
> Lou

I’m not sure I agree with you in this.  The purpose of the clause is to say “the IETF negotiated rate is the lowest that the hotel will offer during the meeting window.”  In other words they are agreeing negotiate one rate with the IETF as part of our overall meeting contract and agreeing to also not then go and negotiate a undercutting rate with some travel web site for instance.    

One big part of this is intended to make sure the ietf rate is the best rate across its whole block.  Another big part related to the first is that ietf attendees do not need to worry they there was a better deal that they missed because they didn’t spend a couple
of hours on other travel sites, or a better deal because the booker early or waited. 

Being consistent for the whole IETF room block is an important part of this negotiation.   While a hotel may offer a couple of rooms at a discount they certainly aren’t doing that for any number of rooms as big as the ietf block which can be (simplified general numbers here)   600 rooms at say 6 nights for a total of 3600 room nights that are available to IETF attendees all for the same price.   

This is as opposed to what I’ve seen on many hotel booking sights where the price changes up or down each night and you are
competing against every other customer to grab the cheapest rates before they are gone. Or you get a cheap first or last night and pay more for all the others. 

This is very different to the ietf rate which is the same for every room night for every attendees and is the same if you book as soon as registration opens or if you book just before arriving. 

The ietf gets a consistent and good rate for all its rooms and all times of booking. That’s a huge benefit for ietf participants, especially those that have to wait to get approval before booking their travel. 

Opposed to that consistency is the kind of room pricing that places like PriceLine engage in. Sure some individuals can get some deals occasionally, but it’s one thing to compete against the open market especially if you don’t have a particular goal of staying in a specific meeting hotel - it is an entirely different thing to pit IETF attendees against one another to edge out each other for a better room rate while leaving the scraps to those willing to pay the full rack rate when the supply gets low (which is a real and painful part of playing the hotel pricing market place). 

So I don’t agree removing the clause is in the best interest of the ietf community.  It requires the hotel to act consistently with all IETFers who book a room at the hotel and it says that they do not need to waste time
hunting across the hotel discount sites looking for a better deal - because they have already got the best deal to be found on those sites. 

I will add that the IETF main mailing list is not the place to debate ietf meeting hotel practices. That belongs on [e-mail] which is the working group for meeting venue stuff. 


Regards
Glenn