Hello all
For today's blog I thought I would try and focus on what kind of systems the Hotels use, and whether or not they are taking the proper security cautions in protecting my identity when I rent a room at their establishments. So For today I'll look at a Large Popular Hotel, what systems they use, and then Small, independent hotels...
Hilton
Hilton is a highly esteemed hotel that many travelers have frequented in the past years. But, whenever you stay at a hotel like this. Do you ever stop and think "golly is my information safe in the hands of these people". If you use a rewards program, obviously they remember you and store your information. So to be honest. The only reason I am bringing this up, is because of a case we were discussing in one of my classes this week. It was discussing just how easy it is to steal someone's identity. So lets discuss the number of items that a hotel would have to keep you safe. for hilton here is what they say.
Wow thats a lot of different information that they give you. I looked through many of these and couldn't find the name of the program they used to ecrypt and store people's personal information. I'm guessing as a customer your supposed to use blind faith that your information will not be given to a third party. Want to comment on what you think?? can you find the company they use? feel free to comment!
Next lets look at yet another hotel and the security in their hotels. Now perhaps we could look at a competitor to Hilton. Such as Hyatt Ok here we go. On a random Hyatt website I again went down to the bottom of the page and found the Privacy policy that they are implementing on a day to day basis.
From what I could see they have a much more extensive and interesting layout for explaining how they use your information, and what they do to protect it. Here is an exert of
1) they introduce the policy.
2) the application of the policy
3) types of personal information we collect
4) How we use personal information
5) Disclosure of personal information
6) Centralized Data Processing Activities
7) Information We collect when you visit us Online
HALT
This part is interesting.... They actually tell us how they protect your security with cookie technology
Because the security of your personal information is important to us, we use Secured Socket Layer ("SSL") software with up to 128-bit encryption in order to encrypt the personal information that you provide to us. If your browser is SSL enabled (which most are) your transmission of personal information to us online will be encrypted. You can verify whether your personal information is transmitted using SSL encryption by confirming the symbol of a closed lock or solid key on the bottom bar of your browser window. You can also verify that your personal information will be encrypted using SSL encryption by making sure that the prefix for the web address listed for that page has changed from "http" to "https". If you do not see the appropriate symbol and the "https" prefix, you should not assume that the personal information that you are being asked to provide will be encrypted prior to transmission.
The personal information we collect from you online is stored by us and/or our service providers on databases protected through a combination of physical and electronic access controls, firewall technology and other reasonable security measures. Nevertheless, such security measures cannot prevent all loss, misuse or alteration of personal information and we are not responsible for any damages or liabilities relating to any such incidents
8)Choice
Conclusion: That is pretty much what I wanted to cover for this blog. I don't think I should inundate you with too much information, I want you to be able to read this happily. I am also going to let you know that i'm open to suggestions on what I should blog. So feel free to leave some sort of comments :D
thank you for reading my blog yet again. I know its not terribly awesome but I try my best
Chelsey
The Intro : In my research of Hotels in albuquerque I have come upon something that well...suprises even me. The costs to stay nearby UNM at a Decent hotel are astronomical for someone trying to stay within a reasonable budget. So for this blog I'm going to explore and share with you maybe 3 or 4 different hotels within a 20 mile radius What are the costs to stay in a hotel or motel near UNM without breaking the bank?
The Generalized Inputs:
a) Who am I: Student visiting sister Rayelle( made up name)
b) Age: 23
c) Sex: Female
b) Length of Stay: February 28th to March 6th (7 days)
c) Budget: 50 to 70 dollars a day
d) Sites to find hotel: Priceline, Expedia, and Travelocity, Google
e) Free parking
f) Free wifi
g) Nonsmoking room
i) only showing you the first page of results
If you take the time to look at the Tab that says Hotels In Albuquerque, You will see I have listed some hotels in Albuquerque near UNM. That can be your general reference for where certain places are. That page will most likely change as the blog continues to specifically show certain hotels. UNfortunately due to many issues with links and upload issues, I can't Just copy and past the results I got into the Blog. Its just not working out for me this time. Plus, I dont want to get into any trouble with copying stuff. So Instead I will post Links to the pages!
http://travela.priceline.com/hotel/priceListings.do?key=g68ll4aq&jsk=2003010a2203010a20100301013506B2D611528260&plf=PCLN Priceline
We have all seen the priceline ads on Tv. They have the Shatner trying to negotiate a price on a hotel for you. saying he is going to find you excellent deals on hotels so that you can go on the dream vacation. So...Lets put him up to the test why dont we!
Putting all the inputs we had from before these are the results that I got below. I'm a little dissapointed that Priceline doesn't give me a map so I have a bettere refernce of where the hotels they are talking about are listed. But feel free to use my map on the Hotels in Albuquerque tab. But for my 7 day stay in albuquerque, these are the rates available to us from Priceline
Expedia
I want you all to notice some features that are different between Priceline and Expedia. They both post the same information but in much different formats. On Priceline I didn't get the option of picking the money range, but did get to organize list from cheapest to most expensive. Note the price changes from one search engine to the other also. It makes you ask the question. Which search engine is better? As for the formatting I think I enjoy the way Expedia presents the information, based on your inputs. instead of prcies or just one situation It also puts in the prices of other rooms to. This is a good way to perhaps convince a guests to choose the room thats a little more expensive because they realize hey its not actually that expensive! Here's a link to the results I got. I'm still working on How to effectively post the results I got.
http://www.expedia.com/Hotels?#sb=10&st=0&nm=0&ar=6065406&am=0%2C1%2C7&sd=2/28/2010&ed=3/6/2010&ad=1&pg=0
