Ancien Maestro

Fly-yul is correct.. NFAF are loss leaders at some hotels, its simply I can't find a better rate, combined package, 3rd party website, etc.. and that these hotels depend on Friends and Family bookings to fill the empty rooms not sold retail. I'm surprised to actually find that some hotels are depending on NFAF, as at one point I was convinced that Fairmonts accross the board has a loss leader that beats the NFAF rate. Kokinos when I was golfing with him, told me that he has stay at Hotel Vancouver next time out at the coast because Pacific Rim rates were high, sometimes higher than Four Seasons.. he simply couldn't find a rate that was low enough, or a loss leader that was available to him for Pacific Rim to get his business the next time he was out to Vancouver. Long and behold, I tried looking at rates for Pacific Rim, and found that the best rate was prepaid advanced (non-cancellable) for $262 per night.. still steep. Then on the FB booking wall, a quote for a Pacific Rim booking went through and it was about $100 less then prepaid advanced (NFAF is flexible and cancellable).. and I realized that the Pacific Rim's loss leader is NFAF Manual bookings. A bit surreal watching deals that people are getting on the FB wall.. sort of like a stock ticker symbol screen.

For some hotels, NFAF Manual Bookings are a must have tool, unless you're flexible at staying at other hotels that are not your first choice or comfortable paying higher rates.