Hotel cancellation policy

[Finance Dave]

Thinking about booking a hotel beginning July 15th in Illinois. When I go through Expedia and see the pricing and cancellation fee, there is a pop-up box. I copy/pasted it exactly below. To me this provides conflicting info. On one hand it says no refund or credit. But then it says full refund if you cancel before July 15th.

I know, I can call the hotel to verify with them...and I will do that, but wondering how you would interpret this.


"If you change or cancel your booking you will not get a refund or credit to use for a future stay. This policy will apply regardless of COVID-19, subject to any local consumer laws.

Cancel your reservation before Jul 15 at 04:00 PM, and you'll get a full refund.

After that, you'll be charged for the first night of your stay plus taxes and fees.

Times are based on the property’s local time."

 

[Sunset]

My thought is if you book via expedia, then what they say for refund rules.
If you book directly with the hotel, what they say will rule.
Be sure to get email from whoever you book with, stating they will give a refund, as a phone call is not proof months later.

 

[Finance Dave]

My thought is if you book via expedia, then what they say for refund rules.
If you book directly with the hotel, what they say will rule.
Be sure to get email from whoever you book with, stating they will give a refund, as a phone call is not proof months later.

Oh believe me, I'll get it in writing. I've already taken screen prints of what's on the Expedia website and stored them in my travel binder.

My question is...what do you think that comment says?

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah, kinda weird. Usually 24 hours, no problem.

 

[audreyh1]

Don’t go through Expedia unless that’s the only way you can get a room at the hotel. Usually you can book directly with the hotel and get their best cancellation options. Don’t prepay.

 

[Bamaman]

The hotel terms take priority over refunds rather than what a booking service says.

And rooms are so plentiful right now that I wouldn't even think about making a reservation so early. It never hurts to look to see what's available.

 

[foxfirev5]

I never use a third party site. DW will check these sites then contact the hotel directly if there's a big discrepancy. Heck, back in the days of full time travel I even refused to use the company travel agent due to problems with itinerary changes. I just called the hotel 800# and did it myself.

Also during my travels I've overheard many irate customers at the front desk when their internet rate left them less than satisfied.

 

[Aerides]

I have used Expedia with success long ago, but would not again. Not just for the raw prices, but there are many other benefits from booking directly, and some hotels offer a small discount or perk if you're in their loyalty program, even a brand new member (think $10 less, free wifi, parking, stuff like that - you pay full freight for all that with a 3rd party package).

If the hotel ends up oversold and have to bump? - not gonna be their own customers or loyalty members.
If they are offering upgrades? not gonna be their riff raff partner guests.

The site (expedia) policy for cancellation absolutely overrides the hotel's policy. Even hotels have different policies for different rates and packages. Expedia is going to bill your credit card, so that's where you need to be ironclad. Telling Visa "but marriott said I have 24 hours" when the charge is from expedia will get you nowhere.

And with most hotels, you can book now, pay nothing, and then watch. It might come down and you can cancel and rebook very easily - not so much with a package.

 

[athena53]

It's ambiguous to me. Part 1 says it's pretty much inflexible- no changes, no cancellations. Use it or lose it.

Part 2 says that if you cancel before 7/15 they give you your money back.

My guess is that one of those sections was not meant to be included. If the rate is a great bargain it's probably "use it or lose it".

 

[disneysteve]

It looks like they aren't managing their own site well and posted conflicting information. Book direct with the hotel. Avoid 3rd party sites like Expedia. It's not worth saving a few dollars if you run into a problem later.

 

[JRon]

I’m in the hotel business and we will always give the best rate if you book directly with us. Third party sites, like Expedia, frequently tell guests things that cause us issues - like cancellations. The hotel has not received any money so therefore can not give a refund, but the guest wants their money causing a disgruntled guest. Third party sites started out providing a valuable service, but fortunately the hotel industry has caught up with them.

 

[Chuckanut]

I try to book through the hotel site also. This is especially true if the hotel is a small business owned by a local company or 'mom and pop'. I want them to have the money, not some booking outfit.

 

[pacergal]

I will use Expedia and the like to review and find hotels, airfare, etc.
Then call direct to the place I want to book. I have always received lower prices directly, if not, they will match Expedia if I mention the price.

 

[athena53]

I’m in the hotel business and we will always give the best rate if you book directly with us. Third party sites, like Expedia, frequently tell guests things that cause us issues - like cancellations. The hotel has not received any money so therefore can not give a refund, but the guest wants their money causing a disgruntled guest. Third party sites started out providing a valuable service, but fortunately the hotel industry has caught up with them.

I ran into that last year- booked through Orbitz because I was in South America and the hotel site was in Spanish. Not al that comfortable with conducting business in Spanish and couldn't find an English version.

Hotel cancelled; this was in Ecuador and they'd just closed their borders due to COVID so I couldn't get there anyway. I contacted the hotel chain for a refund, got the usual "this will take a LONG time, we appreciate your patience" response- it was a crazy time. Finally contacted them maybe 6 or 7 weeks later. They'd never gotten their money form Orbitz, they said. Contacted Orbitz. No response. Finally disputed it on my credit card and it was refunded.

So... never again with Orbitz.

 

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

If you are going to a chain hotel, we always use the hotel direct sites - best rates, far friendlier terms, especially if you join their loyalty programs. If going to a boutique hotel or B&B, YMMV.

 

[audreyh1]

There was one particular hotel (a Sheraton) that I couldn’t get a room directly, but there was availability via Expedia. This happened twice.

Otherwise I book directly with the hotel because I don’t like dealing with a middleman if something goes wrong. And it occasionally does, and more likely to go wrong IMO if there is a middleman.

 

[Sunset]

There was one particular hotel (a Sheraton) that I couldn’t get a room directly, but there was availability via Expedia. This happened twice.

Otherwise I book directly with the hotel because I don’t like dealing with a middleman if something goes wrong. And it occasionally does, and more likely to go wrong IMO if there is a middleman.

We showed up at a hotel reserved via some middle man site, similar to expedia/travelocity, for our honeymoon.
Hotel said they had no reservation.
It took a while to get that straightened out, and made me leery of 3rd party booking sites.

 

[braumeister]

The big lesson I learned a year ago is that paying a little extra for a clear, generous refund policy is well worth it. Between hotels, airlines, and tour operators, I was out well over $1,000 and it could have been much worse.

 

[Dtail]

I will use Expedia and the like to review and find hotels, airfare, etc.
Then call direct to the place I want to book. I have always received lower prices directly, if not, they will match Expedia if I mention the price.

+1

 

[audreyh1]

We showed up at a hotel reserved via some middle man site, similar to expedia/travelocity, for our honeymoon.
Hotel said they had no reservation.
It took a while to get that straightened out, and made me leery of 3rd party booking sites.

Oh, that happened to us! We showed up and they couldn’t see any reservation. Someone went to the back office, and it took a while, but I guess they contacted Expedia and straightened it out. Naive me - I was so shocked! I think that was the last straw.

On airlines - very early like late 90s to 2000 on I used a couple of third party sites to search and book airline tickets. One time they screwed up the seat assignments - I think they didn’t let me or something. I ended up calling the airline to straighten it out. There was a small fee but I got it fixed. The airline agent cleverly pointed out that if I booked directly, seat assignment changes were free. That took care of that!

 

[audreyh1]

The big lesson I learned a year ago is that paying a little extra for a clear, generous refund policy is well worth it. Between hotels, airlines, and tour operators, I was out well over $1,000 and it could have been much worse.

I absolutely won’t pre-pay for hotel rooms no matter how good the “non refundable rate” is unless the time window is super short - like within a week or two and the trip is in progress. Sometimes the refundable rate is a great deal, sometimes it is not. I don’t care. I want to be able to cancel within a reasonable time.

 

[ivinsfan]

Yeah, kinda weird. Usually 24 hours, no problem.

The good old days when when used to be able to cancel by 3 PM on the day of arrival. One of the big chains started a more restrictive policy and they all followed along.



This makes our snowbirding nights a little more dicey. We usually know where we want to end, but things can change. Now I have to scroll through my phone a couple hours before we want to stop hoping i can find a room.

We did a trip out East a smaller town in VA on a Thursday night in 2015 and every room in town was booked for a conference...just kept on driving

 

[Chuckanut]

The big lesson I learned a year ago is that paying a little extra for a clear, generous refund policy is well worth it. Between hotels, airlines, and tour operators, I was out well over $1,000 and it could have been much worse.

I accidently made non-refundable hotel reservations once. I found the hotel was far away and not as comfortable as others. I decided to leave early but then found that I was on the hook for all three nights. Lesson learned.

 

[Aerides]

I absolutely won’t pre-pay for hotel rooms no matter how good the “non refundable rate” is unless the time window is super short - like within a week or two and the trip is in progress. Sometimes the refundable rate is a great deal, sometimes it is not. I don’t care. I want to be able to cancel within a reasonable time.

Me neither! and I rarely book anything that isn't at most on 24 hour notice to cancel. And when I do book, I check back every week before arriving to see if there's a better rate, which has worked well for me many times.

 

[athena53]

Me neither! and I rarely book anything that isn't at most on 24 hour notice to cancel. And when I do book, I check back every week before arriving to see if there's a better rate, which has worked well for me many times.

I've also found that many of the bargain "pay up front right now, no cancellation" rates on third party sites don't count towards credit on loyalty programs. It may not be a concern but it's a factor making that rate less of a bargain.