Travel Lodge Rip Off

outtatune

Plenty of bus options for getting to Cambridge, depending of course on where you're starting from.

And are you sure that there are no trains at all running that day? Often they'll advise you not to travel on strike days but there is still a limited service.

Iwantisfairplay

The point that I do not think has been mentioned is that Travelodge  pre select the non refundable option, for their benefit, not the customers. 
When booking more that one room this becomes a problem as any assumption that selecting the first flexible option applies to the whole transaction is not what Travelodge think.
For comparison: Premier Inn pre select the option you can cancel at no cost (up to the day of stay)

Pollycat

NECROPOST!
The last post on this thread was 4th May 2023.
And the OP has not logged onto MSE since that date.

As pointed out upthread, it's clear that you are choosing a non-refundable rate.
It really doesn't matter what other companies do.