Does anyone know if you also pay tax on top of the cash portion of a cash + points redemption? I thought you didn't but the terms and conditions of the booking page says the rate displayed does not include taxes.
Usually I have been charged tax on the cash portion - both in the U.S. but also in Europe where rates quoted usually include the VAT, I have had the cash portion converted into Euros, and then had VAT shown as a separate line item.
Do you mean that you pay additional for the VAT or just that the bill shows VAT as separate from the rest of the stated C&P price?
If it was $60 + 4000 points rate, I've had $60 converted to Euros, and then had an additional charge for VAT on top of that. What's off, of course, is that otherwise the quoted rates in Europe already include VAT.
This seems wrong to me. My understanding is that by law, VAT must be included in prices of most things and cannnot be added on top. It is not a sales tax. Also, politicians want to hide how much it is, even though it sometimes can be shown as being XXX of the total price of YYY.
I can show you my cash & points folio from the FRA airport Sheraton 60 USD was converted to 44.15 Euro Then 7% VAT of 3.09 Euro was added to it, and I was charted 47.24 Euro, which is broken down as 44.15 Net, 3.09 VAT, and 47.24 Brutto or Total It's not really different, though, than a U.S. hotel which receives the $60 pre-tax, and adds the sales tax
I think it is different, in that German hotel rates (and prices in general) are supposed to include VAT already in the price, not add it on top. I assume that if this had not been a C&P booking, the rate given on spg.com or where ever you booked would have the VAT already included in the total price for the room, not added on top at checkout. By not consistently including VAT, it becomes hard to compare rates, including regular or prepaid rates versus C&P, and the VAT could surprise some customers at check out.
