If i book refundable hotel stay and want my money back is it straightforward?

moneysavvy35

Hello Everyone

Has anyone ever booked a hotel that offers full cancellation then cancelled with no problem, then possibly booked the same hotel but at the cheaper (non refundable rate)

I'll give you my paticular scernario......
Book Novotel Barcelona city for 3 nights at a higher rate but can be cancelled and full refund issued.

Look around and see a better hotel for cheaper, call novotel and cancel getting my full refund.

Or

don't see anything better, cancel more expensive refundable room, get refund then book the same nights at the cheaper rate?

Does this make sense? I want to go to barcelona for 3 nights but its quite hard to secure family rooms that sleep 4(esp with pool), so just in case I would secure novotel and look elsewhere as I may find better. How are hotels generally with refunding room costs?

any advice appriciated.

blindman

moneysavvy35 wrote: »

Hello Everyone

Has anyone ever booked a hotel that offers full cancellation then cancelled with no problem, then possibly booked the same hotel but at the cheaper (non refundable rate)

I'll give you my paticular scernario......
Book Novotel Barcelona city for 3 nights at a higher rate but can be cancelled and full refund issued.

Look around and see a better hotel for cheaper, call novotel and cancel getting my full refund.

Or

don't see anything better, cancel more expensive refundable room, get refund then book the same nights at the cheaper rate?

Does this make sense? I want to go to barcelona for 3 nights but its quite hard to secure family rooms that sleep 4(esp with pool), so just in case I would secure novotel and look elsewhere as I may find better. How are hotels generally with refunding room costs?

any advice appriciated.

Standard practice-Just make sure the cheaper non-refundable rate is still there when you want to change .

zagfles

I've done this a few times, rebooking with the same hotel at a cheaper rate.

But not sure what you mean by "getting a refund", hotels rates which are fully cancellable very rarely charge you in advance, they just take the CC details to guarantee the room (so if you don't turn up they'll charge the first night, or whatever their terms are).

So there is no refund. You just cancel, you get confirmation of your cancellation, and that's it.

moneysavvy35

zagfles wrote: »

But not sure what you mean by "getting a refund", hotels rates which are fully cancellable very rarely charge you in advance, they just take the CC details to guarantee the room (so if you don't turn up they'll charge the first night, or whatever their terms are).

So there is no refund. You just cancel, you get confirmation of your cancellation, and that's it.

OK......so they don't actually take the money from your cc card? I thought they did. :huh:. Didn't realise this is standard practice so will really have a good look around.Thanks

ognum

If you are talking about a company like Expedia they do charge your credit card and take a few weeks to refund it!

zagfles

moneysavvy35 wrote: »

OK......so they don't actually take the money from your cc card? I thought they did. :huh:. Didn't realise this is standard practice so will really have a good look around.Thanks

Yes, it's standard practice, certainly if you book direct with the hotel. If the reservation is fully cancellable they won't charge your card, you pay when you're there, either on arrival, or more likely, on departure. If you cancel in time, they never charge your card (though they may put a "test" £1 reserve on it when you book, just to test it's a genuine card, but you won't get charged).

But if the reservation isn't cancellable, then they often do charge at the time of the booking.

Going via agents may be different, though surprised about Expedia, other agents eg booking.com never charge you themselves, you pay the hotel direct as per standard practice, ie no upfront fee if cancellable, and they get paid commission by the hotel.

Novotel certainly operate in the way I've described, I've used them loads of times.

It's not like airline tickets - where you do pay upfront even if fully cancellable.

hcb42

Best to book direct with hotel, posts are correct, not usually charged. Booking.com and laterooms do not charge customer cards either, the hotel does, so same process as if you had booked direct I.e pay on departure. Expedia is different though, you pay Expedia, hotel invoices Expedia for the room rate less commission. Just book direct to be on safe side. Of course per payable rates are non refundable, so that's another story..

InsideInsurance

If you do book through an agent like Hotels.com that do charge you in advance you'll need to ensure you have enough credit/ balance to cover the cost of the hotel twice whilst you wait for the refund to be processed - they are highly unlikely to "transfer" the paid monies but instead deal with it as two separate transactions.

As others have said, most the time when booking direct or through certain agents then rates that can be cancelled are not charged up front. A few will however "test" the card to ensure you've got funds, a friend found this when he stayed in Dubai but we stayed at the same hotel and didnt have it done at the time of booking (but did at the time of checkin)