Hotel Scalpers Seek to Cash in on U.S. Inauguration Day

Anticipation of Barack Obama’s historic inauguration has sparked yet another run at Internet profiteering: hotel scalping.

From reservations for a Holiday Inn Express some 60 miles away, in York, Pa., to prepaid packages at some of Washington’s finest downtown hotels, entrepreneurs are posting offerings on sites such as eBay and Craigslist for lodging on and around the Jan. 20 inauguration.

Calls to reservations lines for large hotel chains indicate that most hotels allow a customer to change the name and credit card attached to a reservation at any time. Though prepaid stays may have restrictions against transfers, many of the high-dollar packages being offered by Washington hotels are nonrefundable but transferable.

Few of the offerings have drawn bids. That could be because some hotel rooms were still available in the area as of last week or because some of the prices were unrealistic. For example, one scalper offered three nights at a Baltimore-Washington Airport hotel, 35 miles from the Capitol, for $4,000. Rack rates for the room start at $179.

If that seems outrageous, consider the hefty prices for high-end specials being offered by downtown properties.

The Park Hyatt has a $70,000 package for its presidential suites. The Omni Shoreham is offering a “Commander-in-Chief” four-night stay in its two-bedroom Shoreham Presidential Suite for $440,000. In addition to lodging, however, that price includes private jet transportation, inaugural tickets and shopping.

But there are also a number of budget properties in the suburbs still available from online travel agencies in the range of $100 to $200 a night. Still, some bidders are making money on Internet auction sites. A reservation for two nights at a Comfort Inn 40 miles from downtown, for example, went for $225. That’s in addition to the $119 nightly rate the buyer will have to pay for the room.

A reservation for a $149-a-night room at a Holiday Inn in College Park, Md., went to the only bidder at $999.95. For a $180-a-night room at the SpringHill Suites Annapolis, the higher of two bidders paid $177.50 for a two-night reservation.