Obviously there’s a ton of uncertainty surrounding travel at the moment. In the past 24 hours alone:
- The US has banned those foreigners who have been in Schengen countries in the past 14 days
- The Department of State has issued a warning that Americans should reconsider traveling abroad
One question I’ve received over and over from readers is what we should expect from hotels when it comes to waiving the usual cancelation policies:
- This primarily applies to those who booked non-refundable rates, which normally can’t be canceled anytime after booking
- However, there are also plenty of hotels (especially secluded resorts) where the most flexible cancelation policy doesn’t allow you to get a refund within 30 days, or even within 60 days
Should you expect hotels to be flexible, or where do things stand? Here are a few things to be aware of:
In this post:
Cancelation policies for major hotel groups
Of the major global hotel groups, four are offering free cancelations:
- Hilton is allowing all bookings, even non-refundable ones, to be canceled; this is valid for stays through April 30, 2020, when canceling at least 24 hours before scheduled arrival
- IHG is allowing all bookings, even non-refundable ones, to be canceled, for stays through April 30, 2020
- Hyatt is allowing all bookings, even non-refundable ones, to be canceled, for stays through April 30, 2020; on top of that, Hyatt is offering 10K points to anyone who wants to cancel a non-refundable reservation through June 30, 2020 (though if you choose that option you don’t get a refund)
- Marriott is allowing all bookings, even non-refundable ones, to be canceled, for stays through April 30, 2020
Hyatt is offering 10K points for every non-refundable booking you cancel
Many hotels are being flexible beyond published policies
Obviously there are all kinds of different reasons people don’t want to travel:
- Some people want to limit movement altogether, and want to avoid being in crowded spaces
- Some people are concerned there will be travel restrictions that will prevent them from getting around
- Some people are already facing travel restrictions that prevent them from actually visiting the place where the hotel is located
- Some people are dealing with flight cancelations due to airlines reducing their schedules, making it hard to get to their destination
With that in mind, what I’m finding is that many hotels are allowing people to cancel without offering a cash refund. Instead they’re offering guests the opportunity to use what they’ve spent as a credit towards a future stay, typically within a year.
Personally I think that’s pretty fair overall. There can of course be value in purchasing travel insurance for exactly these situations, and I can understand why hotels don’t want to outright offer a cash refund.
Many properties are being flexible beyond published policies
What about hotels that are being strict?
I’m also getting some reports from readers who made non-refundable bookings, and are essentially being told to pound sand by the hotel when asking for a refund.
Are those hotels being unreasonable? Yesish, I would say.
I am slightly more forgiving of hotels than airlines when it comes to not being flexible on non-refundable bookings:
- A vast majority of airline fares are non-refundable, and as a passenger it almost never makes sense to purchase a refundable fare (unless your company is footing the bill), because it’s typically exponentially more expensive
- In the case of hotels, it’s typically marginally more expensive to book a refundable rate vs. a non-refundable rate, so I do think there’s a significant amount of risk that comes with that
When consumers make the choice to book non-refundable, knowing it can’t be canceled no matter what, where should the line be drawn for that? I don’t have the answer, obviously, but it is a reason I generally avoid non-refundable bookings…
If you don’t get what you want, wait
This has been my advice all along throughout this situation. Assuming you’re not traveling in a couple of days, I’d highly recommend just waiting.
This situation is continuing to evolve, and we’ve constantly seen travel companies introduce more generous change policies. I would expect for that to continue. Often individual airline and hotel representatives aren’t very empowered to make decisions, so you’re much better off just waiting for an official policy change.
This was recently true with airlines as well — at first they didn’t waive change fees on previously booked tickets, and then they did. Now global hotel chains are starting to allow cancelations of non-refundable bookings as well, which they didn’t at first.
This situation is evolving, so be patient…
Bottom line
In general I’m finding that hotels are being reasonably flexible in light of the current situation.
For those people who have non-refundable bookings, I’m finding that many hotels are willing to let you use what you’ve spent for a future stay. That’s certainly not the case across the board, though I’m finding it’s happening at least a good percentage of the time.
If you’ve tried to cancel a hotel stay in light of the current situation, what was your experience like?
I have had no luck getting a refund on a non refundable room in Tel Aviv even though the borders are closed.
Good morning
I have recently received an email from the Meininger Hotel in Amsterdam advising that they are cancelling my reservation but due to me paying in full as nonrefundable will not refund me and have offered to book again at another date.
Are they legally allowed to do this as it is them that have cancelled?
Thank you
Peg, that is pretty understanding of you. Any business, whether small or large, should treat their customers with care and grace during this pandemic. That is how to go from a small business to a big business - great customer service. Treating customers the way you've described will lose you many customers. It just isn't good business.
I booked hotel and airline (for a major conference, not vacation) myself because I could get better deal than going through my university - trying to save money for our grant. Conference is now going virtual. I had not been careful and did not see that the slightly cheaper rate was "no cancellation refund" on hotels.com although I DID see all over the website how there is an _easy_ cancellation policy. When I saw in...
I booked hotel and airline (for a major conference, not vacation) myself because I could get better deal than going through my university - trying to save money for our grant. Conference is now going virtual. I had not been careful and did not see that the slightly cheaper rate was "no cancellation refund" on hotels.com although I DID see all over the website how there is an _easy_ cancellation policy. When I saw in chat window a confirmation to cancel I clicked okay too quickly - only after I clicked did I see the "you won't get a refund". I tried to contact them but all chats are robot and all the msgs on their website say that they are flooded with calls and emails and it will be awhile unless you are traveling in the next 10 days. So I emailed customer support, and said I would like to "uncancel" - less than 10 minutes after I had cancelled. I thought that maybe I could sell the room or get a credit and possibly use it next year. Got a reply that said the customer support email was 'no reply email' and to go to hotels.com - but nothing happens when I click "contact us". The hotel was not a big chain. I feel like I will be pounding sand. And I can't necessarily blame a small business - but I also feel like I can't afford to lose such a chunk of money.
We paid more to book a ‘free cancellation’ room in Greece in mid-May as long as it is cancelled within 30 days of checkin. We got an email begging people to hold off on cancelling in early March and for doing so, they would change free cancellation terms to 14 days before. It is now 34 days before checkin and we got a new email saying they will hold onto our 30% deposit until the...
We paid more to book a ‘free cancellation’ room in Greece in mid-May as long as it is cancelled within 30 days of checkin. We got an email begging people to hold off on cancelling in early March and for doing so, they would change free cancellation terms to 14 days before. It is now 34 days before checkin and we got a new email saying they will hold onto our 30% deposit until the end of 2021, and only refund at that time, should we not use a credit voucher they offered by then. It’s highly unlikely we can travel within that time for child care reasons. This was once in a lifetime, 50th Bday trip. The hotel is small and I understand worried about their livelihood. But that shouldn’t mean they don’t honor their free cancellation terms as written in our reservation. I understand if I booked the cheaper money refundable rate. There was no other fine print about disaster or pandemic exclusions. I’m angry I didn’t cancel back in March when They were probably still honoring free cancellation refunds. What if they are no longer in business come the end of 2021. Should I dispute the charges with my credit card company? I’m taking a hit with the refundable domestic flights we booked to to go from mainland to the island as well and possibly the other our international flight from US to Greece.
Reading all the comments, it looks like a lot of people are having the same problem with not getting refunds. Would be useful if you wrote a follow-up guide to tell us what we can do in this situation.
I'm Canadian, live in Canada, and I made a booking for New Orleans Jazz Fest with Auberge NOLA, a hostel in New Orleans (https://aubergehostels.com/new-orleans/). I booked through Hostelworld.com, and made a non-refundable booking back in December. It was for late April / early May (i.e. the two weekends of Jazz Fest). Then of course the Coronavirus happened, our borders were closed, Jazz Fest was cancelled. Auberge NOLA had already pre-charged me not only the non-refundable...
I'm Canadian, live in Canada, and I made a booking for New Orleans Jazz Fest with Auberge NOLA, a hostel in New Orleans (https://aubergehostels.com/new-orleans/). I booked through Hostelworld.com, and made a non-refundable booking back in December. It was for late April / early May (i.e. the two weekends of Jazz Fest). Then of course the Coronavirus happened, our borders were closed, Jazz Fest was cancelled. Auberge NOLA had already pre-charged me not only the non-refundable rate that I had agreed to through Hostelworld, but also an extra municipal tax of 16.5%. In total, they pre-charged my credit card $379 USD (around $540 CAD). I reached out to them about 3 weeks prior to my reservation, and requested a refund or credits towards a future stay. They flat out refused either. The owner, Leah, has continued to tell me "tough luck," and refuses to do anything to help. I even had to pull teeth to get receipts for the credit card charges. I contacted Hostelworld, the booking agent, and they credited me $61 towards a future stay, and also refuse to do anything more. It should be noted that Auberge NOLA has a 14-day cancellation policy during Jazz Fest, and this is posted right on the booking, despite the booking being called "Non-refundable." It should also be noted that New Orleans is the most corrupt city I've visited in North America, and also has the worst customer service you'll find anywhere. Would love some advice on what I should do.
IBSENS Hotel in Copenhagen said "it's not possible to change dates or get a refund, you took a risk to get the better rate and lost"
It feels like being robbed, but what can you do?
I booked a fully refundable room at Hotel Mosaic Amsterdam via Booking.com. They took a 455€ deposit that they now are ignoring all my requests for them to refund me.
We booked a reservation with Choice Hotel (Quality Inn) in February 2020, for an event scheduled March 26 through March 29, 2020. We learned on March 13, 2020, that the event we were scheduled to attend was cancelled do to the Coronavirus outbreak. When we reached out to Choice, asking for a refund, the gentleman on the phone basically laughed at me and hung up. All the others hotel chains are refunding reservations, even non-refundable...
We booked a reservation with Choice Hotel (Quality Inn) in February 2020, for an event scheduled March 26 through March 29, 2020. We learned on March 13, 2020, that the event we were scheduled to attend was cancelled do to the Coronavirus outbreak. When we reached out to Choice, asking for a refund, the gentleman on the phone basically laughed at me and hung up. All the others hotel chains are refunding reservations, even non-refundable ones. This guy told me, their NEW guidelines only applies to reservations made after March 10, 2020. Because our reservations were made in February, we don’t meet the guidelines, and then he added, because you cancelled on March 13, 2020, and your reservation started in March 26th, you didn’t give us 14 days notice. Two strikes against us! When I asked to speak with a supervisor, his response was “they don’t care either, we have your money “ and he hung up! Worst customer service ever
I had my trip booked months ago and I was so ready for this trip until the conoravirus came. I booked few different hotels in Germany for my 8 days stay and I was only able to get a full refund for 4 nights. I booked through Expedia and over the passed 1.5 week I have been trying to contact Expedia but they always hang up on me so I tried to contact the hotel...
I had my trip booked months ago and I was so ready for this trip until the conoravirus came. I booked few different hotels in Germany for my 8 days stay and I was only able to get a full refund for 4 nights. I booked through Expedia and over the passed 1.5 week I have been trying to contact Expedia but they always hang up on me so I tried to contact the hotel directly. I tried talking to various representative in the hotel and all I got was a "No" because I booked a non-refundable booking...Up until now it is over 10k cases in Germany but most hotels they don't care and even if you ask for future credit they will say "No". If it's a personal matter I would've understand that but this is a pandemic and most countries has closed their borders too for non-essential travel. I think it is very un-considering for hotels when most airlines and train companies are allowing free change/free cancellation.
I purchased a non refundable room at the Peacock Suites in Anaheim, Ca we were going to to Disneyland I booked through Expedia and both are denying to return or credit me this is just horrible and bad business how can I can pursue this because this is clearly an unfortunate and unforeseen problem
I booked a hotel in Amsterdam through Hotels.com. I have not been charged for the room yet, but it is a no refund rate ($500). When I cancelled the booking on line with hotels.com, they said “you paid $500 for this reservation, which will not be refunded”. Does that mean they were planning to charge my card after my stay? April 30-May2. Can I dispute the charge with AMEX?
I contacted the credit card company that I used with my Hotels.com reservations and filed a dispute for the two hotels which would not refund my prepaid funds. I was issued a credit almost immediately, but I was told that it would take up to 90 days to resolve the dispute. The agent told me informally that because of the Covid-19 situation, I was almost certain to get this resolved in my favor, although they...
I contacted the credit card company that I used with my Hotels.com reservations and filed a dispute for the two hotels which would not refund my prepaid funds. I was issued a credit almost immediately, but I was told that it would take up to 90 days to resolve the dispute. The agent told me informally that because of the Covid-19 situation, I was almost certain to get this resolved in my favor, although they may not be able to refund any taxes paid on the bookings.
Keeping my fingers crossed...
Hotel in Dortmund, Germany B & B Hotels just laughed and said no chance of a refund.
Booked Hotel Montana Zurich and due to travel restrictions and train cancellations it's impossible to make it. However their response was "We really understand your situation.
But we cant do anything because you booked the non-refundable rate." I've escalated to the Swiss Hotel Ombudsman. Perhaps others should do the same if they're in this situation.
Hotels.com has made it very difficult to cancel even when the parent chain (Hilton, in my case) has said it would refund. I, too, had a set-in-stone trip. However, the event was canceled due to Covid-19. I do not normally buy nonrefundable hotels, and I'm not sure how I accidentally did it this time. I feel Hotels.com made that information very hard to find. In addition, it's confirmation e-mail is contradictory with large print that...
Hotels.com has made it very difficult to cancel even when the parent chain (Hilton, in my case) has said it would refund. I, too, had a set-in-stone trip. However, the event was canceled due to Covid-19. I do not normally buy nonrefundable hotels, and I'm not sure how I accidentally did it this time. I feel Hotels.com made that information very hard to find. In addition, it's confirmation e-mail is contradictory with large print that says "It's quick and easy to amend or cancel your booking online," and buried print about the "special non-refundable rate."
I also want to point out that travel insurance might not do any good since plans often have exemptions for epidemics/pandemics even though some of them are apparently providing some level of coverage in this unusual circumstance.
So i was due to go skiing in france in april but the hotel (which I had to prepay) has cancelled the reservation offering chance to rebook but only if we go before october this year (for a ski holiday when the new season doesn't start until december!). They refuse to give a refund but their own terms on their website make clear that a full refund will be given if they cancel, no mention...
So i was due to go skiing in france in april but the hotel (which I had to prepay) has cancelled the reservation offering chance to rebook but only if we go before october this year (for a ski holiday when the new season doesn't start until december!). They refuse to give a refund but their own terms on their website make clear that a full refund will be given if they cancel, no mention of exceptions if they are forced to cancel by global pandemic or act of god etc.
And thoughts on this scenario?
Hotels.com needs to be more flexible on allowing cancellations, or at least delays, on non-refundable bookings. These aren't normal circumstances, these are not cancellations that the customer wants to make. It is the equivalent of force majeure in mining etc.
I booked a non refundable hotel in krakow for April through Accor. They refused to give me a refund or credit for another stay. Terrible customer service. Will never book with them again.
I have booked two hotels in Germany, using hotels.com, for which they will not provide a refund for non-cancellable reservations. For me, Singapore Airlines canceled my flights to/from Frankfurt, which has forced me to cancel the trip. Just wondering if contacting the credit card I used (Chase Sapphire) might be a better way to resolve this. Has anyone tried that approach?
We have booked hotel in Amsterdam called Eric vokel suites Amsterdam. Paid all in advance (big mistake) and now with the covid 19 our flights been cancelled and the trains as well, now the hotel absolutely refuse to refund or even freeze the dates for later use.
Quote:
"Thanks for your email. We understand your situation however unfortunately we are not able to make an exception for your booking. As per the cancellation policy...
We have booked hotel in Amsterdam called Eric vokel suites Amsterdam. Paid all in advance (big mistake) and now with the covid 19 our flights been cancelled and the trains as well, now the hotel absolutely refuse to refund or even freeze the dates for later use.
Quote:
"Thanks for your email. We understand your situation however unfortunately we are not able to make an exception for your booking. As per the cancellation policy it's not possible to cancel nor modify the reservation."
Never in my life heard such a deaf tone.
The top phoo
Have a non-refundable booked in Japan (in June) with the Accor group. Booked early January We asked if we could get a credit to use in a hotel at home so at least we are still supporting the group. They have denied a credit or refund. We will sit and wait. Hope they give us the status credits for the unused stay if they continue to refuse credit/refund.
Choice Hotel - payment for 2 nights $303.64 on a prepaid/non-refundable rate near SFO. The hotel is offering 10,000 points, but if I purchased the same room on the same dates it would cost 50,000 points. I get the counter arguments, but this situation is beyond everyone's control.
Any chance of refunds for hotels booked through Expedia or SnapTravel? Or only when dealing with hotels directly?
We were scheduled to go to South Africa next week departing on QR from MIA to DOH to CPT ( Business Class using AA miles).
The only company that refused to refund any portion of the prepaid amount was the Royal Portfolio Group . I had booked for 3 nights at the The Royal Malewane and had prepaid $12000. This is the same company owned by the Biden family (not the Joe Biden running for...
We were scheduled to go to South Africa next week departing on QR from MIA to DOH to CPT ( Business Class using AA miles).
The only company that refused to refund any portion of the prepaid amount was the Royal Portfolio Group . I had booked for 3 nights at the The Royal Malewane and had prepaid $12000. This is the same company owned by the Biden family (not the Joe Biden running for the Democrat nomiation) that owns the Silo in Cape Town that Lucky loved so much. Shame on them!
AA reinstated my miles and my wife's mile and charged no reinstatement fee.
Akademie Street Boutique Hotel in Franschhoek refunded the entire deposit of $2000 even though they could have charged the full amount of the stay ($4000). This is a small 9 room boutique hotel and still refunded the entire deposit.
Intercontinental Hotel O.R. Tambo Johannesburg airport refunded the entire non-refundable charge of $750 for 2 nights.
Taj Cape Town fully refunded the stay amount.
Wine Tour provider in Franschhoek La Rochelle Tours waived the charge for transfers and tours even though contractually they could have insisted on payment.
While they were contractually within their right to not refund even a single cent, it appears that the Royal Portfolio Group which owns some of the most expensive properties in South Africa that is the most interested in the money with no regard for the circumstances.
I always avoid non-refundable hotel rates if I have an option. Often it costs a few dollars a night more but you just never know what is going to happen and the savings often do not justify the risk. I just cancelled a trip to Asia involving 3 airlines and 7 hotels for April with no issues. The agent at AA had to get a supervisor approval to waive the charge for my DFW to...
I always avoid non-refundable hotel rates if I have an option. Often it costs a few dollars a night more but you just never know what is going to happen and the savings often do not justify the risk. I just cancelled a trip to Asia involving 3 airlines and 7 hotels for April with no issues. The agent at AA had to get a supervisor approval to waive the charge for my DFW to HKG ticket but the request was granted. UA on a paid non refundable P class ticket PVG to DFW just said "Done!"
@Tiffany - It's true that "canceled" is more common in American English while the Brits use two L's, but "cancellation" is the dominant usage on both sides of the pond.
Glad we're discussing the critical issues of our time.
As an update, Booking.com have since issued a refund (again non-refundable rate) for a UK visit next week (16-20 March). Colleagues were meant to be travelling from mainland Europe.
And to re-confirm, Airbnb also issued a full refund for our US trip in June. They had to call the host to verify they were happy, but the host also messaged us saying they are not out of pocket and all fees had been refunded at...
As an update, Booking.com have since issued a refund (again non-refundable rate) for a UK visit next week (16-20 March). Colleagues were meant to be travelling from mainland Europe.
And to re-confirm, Airbnb also issued a full refund for our US trip in June. They had to call the host to verify they were happy, but the host also messaged us saying they are not out of pocket and all fees had been refunded at the same time. They are a "Super Host" which could potentially make a difference to how they are treated.
I read conflicting stories above about Airbnb refusing refunds (or not in some cases)
Having talked to a number of Airbnb hosts they explain they get nothing from Airbnb until well after the stay is completed. This is because Airbnb has a policy guaranteeing a good stay or you don't pay (or similar).
So if Airbnb is refusing refunds then you can be sure they are not passing the money on.
This really needs clarification....
I read conflicting stories above about Airbnb refusing refunds (or not in some cases)
Having talked to a number of Airbnb hosts they explain they get nothing from Airbnb until well after the stay is completed. This is because Airbnb has a policy guaranteeing a good stay or you don't pay (or similar).
So if Airbnb is refusing refunds then you can be sure they are not passing the money on.
This really needs clarification. If they are not refunding then it would keep me from ever using them again.
I'm not actually a fan of Airbnb as over 50% of my stays with them have been awful anyway (I have never requested a refund though).
This might be the straw .....
@Ron Man, the Aman Sveti Stefan in Montenegro
I have a friend at Fred Hutch in Seattle (an organization instrumental in the COVID-19 response...) who was headed to the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston. Their organization banned staff travel before the conference was ultimately cancelled. The Sheraton Boston attached to the convention center nonetheless refused to refund their nonrefundable reservation. That’s their right, of course, but still a bad look considering the organization in question!
I have a friend at Fred Hutch in Seattle (an organization instrumental in the COVID-19 response...) who was headed to the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston. Their organization banned staff travel before the conference was ultimately cancelled. The Sheraton Boston attached to the convention center nonetheless refused to refund their nonrefundable reservation. That’s their right, of course, but still a bad look considering the organization in question!
On another note, just received an email from Hotels.com announcing full refunds of non-refundable bookings for non-US citizens originating from Schengen zone unable to travel to the US under the new travel ban.
Just wanted to offer a different experience with AirBnb. I had a non refundable booking for June in Los Angeles for the E3 expo which has been cancelled due to the outbreak. Value of booking around $4000.
Messaged the host explaining our situation and was offered a full refund without any quibbles. AirBnB also are refunding any associated fees so that no-one is "out of pocket" (except for of course the loss of earnings).
Just wanted to offer a different experience with AirBnb. I had a non refundable booking for June in Los Angeles for the E3 expo which has been cancelled due to the outbreak. Value of booking around $4000.
Messaged the host explaining our situation and was offered a full refund without any quibbles. AirBnB also are refunding any associated fees so that no-one is "out of pocket" (except for of course the loss of earnings).
On the other hand, Booking.com are not offering any support for a non refundable booking for next week. I hope that evolves.
I have a points reservation at a Marriott property in Aspen. The policy if you cancel within 30 days (maybe it was longer I can't remember) they refund the points but charge you the cash rate of the room. I am curious if they will budge on a property with this type of policy. At this point I still plan on going but who knows what will happen over the next 10 days.
received this from VRBO today: 'This is a good time to review your cancellation policy and consider adopting a flexible or moderate policy for the time being. Because this is an evolving situation, travelers may reach out to cancel or delay travel plans. In the spirit of good hospitality, we strongly encourage you to offer a full refund. When you do, Vrbo will also refund our Traveler Service Fee in full. We know this impacts...
received this from VRBO today: 'This is a good time to review your cancellation policy and consider adopting a flexible or moderate policy for the time being. Because this is an evolving situation, travelers may reach out to cancel or delay travel plans. In the spirit of good hospitality, we strongly encourage you to offer a full refund. When you do, Vrbo will also refund our Traveler Service Fee in full. We know this impacts your business and we will waive related cancellations so they don’t affect your ranking metrics.
*Update - policy is not reflected on Hyatt's website yet but they are now allowing cancellation of nonrefundable reservations made prior to March 9th. I don't know if this is a blanket policy but at a minimum should be applicable to all of Europe given that my reservation was in Ireland which is outside of Schengen. Just got off the phone with customer service and received a full refund for my reservation. Very grateful to...
*Update - policy is not reflected on Hyatt's website yet but they are now allowing cancellation of nonrefundable reservations made prior to March 9th. I don't know if this is a blanket policy but at a minimum should be applicable to all of Europe given that my reservation was in Ireland which is outside of Schengen. Just got off the phone with customer service and received a full refund for my reservation. Very grateful to Hyatt for stepping in to do the right thing and their service reps were genuinely compassionate. Kudos
Isn't it that, once there is a government advisory to avoid any travel to a given foreign destination, one could escalate non-refundable hotel booking issues with the credit card provider?
Hotels in both Venice and Florence held fast to the no refund then finally "caved" to allow a credit for rebooking. Still no idea when I can get there.
Hyatt handled my cancellation with absolute class. I had 5 night award booking at the PH Maldives for March 16-20 and I emailed them yesterday and explained our worries about being stranded abroad. Their normal policy is any award booking cancelled within 30 days is subject to a return of all points but you will be charged the lowest posted rate for all nights. In my case 600 a night. I was looking at potentially...
Hyatt handled my cancellation with absolute class. I had 5 night award booking at the PH Maldives for March 16-20 and I emailed them yesterday and explained our worries about being stranded abroad. Their normal policy is any award booking cancelled within 30 days is subject to a return of all points but you will be charged the lowest posted rate for all nights. In my case 600 a night. I was looking at potentially paying over 3000 dollars in fees but they were gracious and cancelled with no penalty and got my 150,000 points re deposited to my world of Hyatt account instantly.
I will definitely be pushing all my stays to Hyatt for them being so understanding and making an exception
@rich Do you know which hotel that was, or at least which city/region? I've been interested in visiting Italy for a while, and it seems like it'd be good to help support local businesses once it's reasonable to start traveling again.
Flight to Ireland from US via Copenhagen cancelled and Hyatt Centric Dublin told me to kick rocks on a prepaid reservation starting Sunday
I am Hilton Diamond, Marriott Silver and Best Western Diamond. Only received email from Hilton yesterday, nothing from Marriott yet, whereas Best Western has advised throughout - even one email extending current status through 2021.
Would be nice if Hilton and Marriott follow Best Western’s example.
Airbnb...keeps “service fee” fee, which I think sucks. Hilton has been gracious, “Bonvoy” has not addressed u.s. reservations, again, sucks. Avis and best western have talked about increased precautions, thank you, but I want full refund on travel plans. This is my experience in just 24 hours of announcements, and revised travel planning,. Live near Seattle.
The Accor group of hotels, so far, is being inflexible. Corona virus or not, non-modifiable means non-modifiable.
@Yolo
Let's try this, using your own words. So should we charge Mexico?
We should charge Mexico for this nightmare. Now they are acting so proud that they contained the immigrants. How many warnings did they have to shut down these illegal immigrants. All states around the nation should get a refund of money spent propping back American jobs.
How about Iceland?
We should charge Iceland for this nightmare. Now they are acting so...
@Yolo
Let's try this, using your own words. So should we charge Mexico?
We should charge Mexico for this nightmare. Now they are acting so proud that they contained the immigrants. How many warnings did they have to shut down these illegal immigrants. All states around the nation should get a refund of money spent propping back American jobs.
How about Iceland?
We should charge Iceland for this nightmare. Now they are acting so proud that they contained the volcanic eruption. How many warnings did they have to shut down these volcanic activities. All countries around the world should get a refund of money spent propping volcanic ashes.
How about alcohol? drugs?
You can blame everyone else, but don't forget yourself too.
USA could have closed its borders. It didn't.
Cruises could have stop all sailings. It didn't.
Airlines could have stop all flights. It didn't.
A St. Louis person could have stayed home under self quarantine. That idiot didn't.
AirBnb will find itself bankrupt then. Given the (somewhat surprising even?) flexibility permitted by the major chains, I can't imagine anyone in the future booking with AirBnb if they are the only major housing source not allowing cancellations to affected areas. The cancellations may hurt their bottom line but not standing behind their customers (especially when literally everyone else is at this point) will be terminal.
We should charge China for this nightmare. Now they are acting so proud that they contained the infection. How many warnings did they have to shut down these illegal animal markets. All countries around the world should get a refund of money spent propping back economies.
The email I received from Hilton said:
Any reservation you make – even those described as “non-cancellable” (“Advanced Purchase”) – that are booked between today and April 30, 2020, for any future arrival date, can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival.
This would seem to be more generous than what is above, am I right?
I suppose learning how to spell “cancellation” might be important before moving forward, no?
I’m incredulous your publication’s copy editor let this run.
@ Max -- Welcome to OMAAT! Both spellings are correct, and "cancelation" is favored in American English.
I would disagree on non-refundable airline vs hotel policies:
non-refundable hotels are truly "use it or lose it" while with airlines you typically pay $150-300 and get to use the rest as credit with them.
@ James, file a complaint against AirBnB with Better Business Bureau. You'll probably get your money back.
I have a reservation with Airbnb in Spain set for a couple weeks from now. I asked them if I could get a refund considering the new ban from Europe announcement and their response was a hard 'no.' At this point though getting a quarantine, self-imposed or otherwise isn't worth it so I'm not going. I just wanted to warn others who may have Airbnb bookings to beware and prepare for a no refund policy.
I came from Taiwan and have couple non-fundable hotel bookings with Hilton and one with IHG.
For cancellation with Hilton hotels, it was very easy, just one local phone call and they take care of everything.
IHG is the different story, I called IHG Taiwan, they told me to call this special China number to do the cancellation due to COVID-19. I called this special Chinese number, they told me they cannot call...
I came from Taiwan and have couple non-fundable hotel bookings with Hilton and one with IHG.
For cancellation with Hilton hotels, it was very easy, just one local phone call and they take care of everything.
IHG is the different story, I called IHG Taiwan, they told me to call this special China number to do the cancellation due to COVID-19. I called this special Chinese number, they told me they cannot call overseas to cancel my hotel booking in Singapore. I need to call Singapore myself. I call Intercontinental Singapore, they want to proof of the cancelation air tickets. They want me to sent the proof to a long email address that they only welling read to me and refused to sent me the email link although they have my email address, at least that’s how hotel told me. I just hanged up. I will try IHG US today to see if I have better luck.
By the way, I am Hilton diamond and IHG spire.
One important business meeting cancelled leaving me with a worthless ticket. However, waiting a few days, the ticket value of that upcoming ticket changed from worthless to being able to be used later. Great! Policies do evolve with this.
The hotel stay with that meeting was non-refundable. I usually don't book non-refundable hotel stays but this trip was supposed to be set in stone. The IHG hotel cancelled it when I called even before I...
One important business meeting cancelled leaving me with a worthless ticket. However, waiting a few days, the ticket value of that upcoming ticket changed from worthless to being able to be used later. Great! Policies do evolve with this.
The hotel stay with that meeting was non-refundable. I usually don't book non-refundable hotel stays but this trip was supposed to be set in stone. The IHG hotel cancelled it when I called even before I could say "but it's non-refundable". It wasn't a prepaid but just a reservation that couldn't be cancelled. This was a day before the IHG announcement. The hotel is in the US.
Wyndham hotel group/chain. Directly booking with the "New Yorker" under them. They told me nothing can be done about the April book. They basically hung up on me.
It is mostly unavoidable but single owner hotels are having a real rough time. Some guy called to cancel his reservation in italy (for obvious reasons) and he said the person started crying because the hotel literally had zero reservations through April.
When your livelihood depends on something, it is rough. Obviously you need savings for emergencies like this but it is sad to see. Unfortunately people ignore problems until it is too late. Pandemic...
It is mostly unavoidable but single owner hotels are having a real rough time. Some guy called to cancel his reservation in italy (for obvious reasons) and he said the person started crying because the hotel literally had zero reservations through April.
When your livelihood depends on something, it is rough. Obviously you need savings for emergencies like this but it is sad to see. Unfortunately people ignore problems until it is too late. Pandemic warnings have been stated for years now and mostly ignored.
At some point another problem will hit the US, the national debt, hopefully I'll be long gone by that time but that is another problem American leadership ignores.
I had a non-refundable hotel booked in Italy booked via Expedia. After the travel ban by the Italian government, I contacted Expedia because it's not my fault I'm not allowed to travel. They were no help at all and I was basically told to "pound sand".
Had an experience with this on Tuesday, before IHG had this rule in place.
Had a stay booked at the Hotel Indigo in Dresden Germany, whilst I was on my way there, my client cancelled, as their company decided to ban 'outside' meetings. I emailed the hotel, asking if there was anything they could do, and they cancelled without any problem. I will make sure to stay there on my next trip to Dresden. :-)
What is that a photo of, please?
Four Seasons Ko Olina said they would not allow cancellation unless guest was from china, s korea, italy or iran
I was able to cancel a reservation at a SpringHill Suites the night before I was supposed to arrive. Called Platinum line and explained that my company suspended all travel until further notice (which is true) and they waived all charges.