In April, my daughter committed to a university in a relatively small college town. Knowing how quickly accommodations fill up around important events like move-in weekend, I booked a hotel room right away. Three nights, confirmed through Expedia. I’ve had that confirmation since April.

Today, I got a reminder about the upcoming stay and decided to call the property with a quick question. I’m glad I did. They told me they had no record of my reservation.

I explained that I booked through Expedia. Still nothing.


After going through the frustrating experience of Expedia’s virtual agent, I finally got in touch with a real person. They were able to confirm that the hotel could now see my reservation, but only for one night instead of the three that were originally confirmed. When I asked how that could happen, they explained that it’s common when properties overbook their inventory through third-party sites. Basically, the hotel hedged its bets that some people might cancel, and I ended up thinking I had a confirmed reservation when I didn’t.

So, since April, I’ve been walking around with the false belief that we had a place to stay for one of the most important weekends of our daughter’s life.

And now? There’s no availability left in town. At best, we’ll be staying 45 minutes away and commuting in all weekend.

Frustrated doesn’t even begin to cover it.

I’m curious; has this happened to anyone else? Is this just a third-party booking issue, or does it happen even when booking directly? I’m seriously considering skipping Expedia for good after this.