No refund hotel room - options

flateric81

I am due to travel to New York in June and this week booked a hotel through a standard hotel booking site, i choose the discounted "no refund" option. Since then i have found out i will actually have free accommodation in the city. What are my chances of getting any money back on the hotel.. and should i contact the website or the hotel direct?
Has anyone attempted this before?

newbie1980

flateric81 wrote: »

I am due to travel to New York in June and this week booked a hotel through a standard hotel booking site, i choose the discounted "no refund" option. Since then i have found out i will actually have free accommodation in the city. What are my chances of getting any money back on the hotel.. and should i contact the website or the hotel direct?
Has anyone attempted this before?

im afraid you wont have any chance of refund thats why they gave you discounted rate.
its worth a try though nothing lost for asking

boliston

i'm sure i read about a website that allows selling unwanted hotel rooms

zagfles

It's worth asking - I've cancelled hotels rooms that were "non refundable" or had a charge to cancel, or cancelled part of the stay, eg due to transport or weather problems, and every time I got a full refund! I did usually have a decent excuse...

Nick_C

Sorry for your experience, but for the benefit of others I would say unless you get a fantastic rate then go for the refundable option.

I have often saved money by cancelling and re-booking nearer the time when prices fall or exchange rates move in my favour.

codger

Nick_C wrote: »

Sorry for your experience, but for the benefit of others I would say unless you get a fantastic rate then go for the refundable option.

I have often saved money by cancelling and re-booking nearer the time when prices fall or exchange rates move in my favour.

Nick: great advice. We use booking.com, and where a hotel is featured that won't provide the option of free cancellation, then it's simple: we won't provide that hotel with our custom.

Most times -- though by no means necessarily always -- hotels offer two-tier pricing, with a cheaper rate available for those willing there and then to be liable for the full payment. This may not matter if what you're booking is next night or next week, but other than that, it's plain stupid to leave yourself so financially vulnerable.

Hotel bedroom prices are like airline seat prices: volatile. This means they go up and down all the time. So, too, do exchange rates.

We generally plan long distance holidays around 6 months in advance, and will then contract to pay -- let's say -- £110 (GBP equivalent) a night for a 'free cancellation' room rather than £100 for that room at the buy-now price.

A couple of months later, we re-check the hotel price and often find it has dropped -- sometimes substantially, due either to the hotel's commitments status or an improvement in the £GBP / Euro or $USD rate.

So . . . we cancel the £110 booking free of charge and now book at £90 with free cancellation (instead of the revised Buy It Now of £85: the option surcharge tends to fall consistent with any drop in the BIN price.) We may then leave things as they are or re-check again and, if appropriate, cancel and re-book.

"Free cancellation" is actually an entirely free option to buy a product -- a hotel bed -- at a future date.

Unless it's impractical to do so, then it's one not to be missed, as the (literally) £100s savings we've made over the years testifies.

Nick_C

Spot on with that advice. A few years ago I saved £300 on a six night stay in NYC that I had booked six months in advance.

I've used booking.com but all other things being equal I usually use hotels.com for the rewards (stay 10 nights, get one free) and cashback through TCB or Quidco.

zagfles

codger wrote: »

Nick: great advice. We use booking.com, and where a hotel is featured that won't provide the option of free cancellation, then it's simple: we won't provide that hotel with our custom.

Most times -- though by no means necessarily always -- hotels offer two-tier pricing, with a cheaper rate available for those willing there and then to be liable for the full payment. This may not matter if what you're booking is next night or next week, but other than that, it's plain stupid to leave yourself so financially vulnerable.

Or use travel insurance. Plenty of people book packages 6 months in advance.

Hotel bedroom prices are like airline seat prices: volatile. This means they go up and down all the time. So, too, do exchange rates.

We generally plan long distance holidays around 6 months in advance, and will then contract to pay -- let's say -- £110 (GBP equivalent) a night for a 'free cancellation' room rather than £100 for that room at the buy-now price.

A couple of months later, we re-check the hotel price and often find it has dropped -- sometimes substantially, due either to the hotel's commitments status or an improvement in the £GBP / Euro or $USD rate.

What difference do exchange rate movements make? If using the likes of booking.com you'd usually be contracted to pay the local currency (or possibly USD/EUR if a minor currency), and for "free cancellation" option you don't usually pay anything till you arrive, so if the currency you're paying in moves against GBP it makes no difference. It's still (eg) US$90 you'll pay when there.

Nick_C

zagfles wrote: »

Or use travel insurance. Plenty of people book packages 6 months in advance.What difference do exchange rate movements make? If using the likes of booking.com you'd usually be contracted to pay the local currency (or possibly USD/EUR if a minor currency), and for "free cancellation" option you don't usually pay anything till you arrive, so if the currency you're paying in moves against GBP it makes no difference. It's still (eg) US$90 you'll pay when there.

Obviously you should have travel insurance, but travel insurance doesn't help if you simply change your mind about a booking, as OP has done.

On hotels.com, you can often book in advance and pay in full in Stirling on a refundable booking. I've done this many many times. If the price drops, which could be due to market forces or a favourable move in the exchange rate, you can cancel, re-book, and make a saving.

zagfles

Nick_C wrote: »

Obviously you should have travel insurance, but travel insurance doesn't help if you simply change your mind about a booking, as OP has done.

Yes. But I was taking issue with "it's plain stupid to leave yourself so financially vulnerable.", when practically everyone who books a package (non last minute) does exactly that.

On hotels.com, you can often book in advance and pay in full in Stirling on a refundable booking. I've done this many many times. If the price drops, which could be due to market forces or a favourable move in the exchange rate, you can cancel, re-book, and make a saving.

Never used them, it sounds a strange business model, do they markup the exchange rate?

flateric81

Thanks for the advice everyone - I will book refundable rooms from now on.

out of interest, when anyone received the payment back was if ever months in advance of the trip? what sort of reasons would they consider acceptable?