Originally Posted by
writerguyfl
I did, however, work in several different hotels over the years. Two of those jobs included working as a Revenue Manager. From that perspective, we would have gladly accepted points instead of cash for a no-show if that had been an option. Points are a guaranteed reimburse. A cash no-show charge is not.
Side note:
Many FlyerTalkers assume that hotels love no-shows because they get money without having to provide the room. But the reality is that many guests will dispute the charge. One of my hotel jobs was in Accounting. I had to respond to all chargebacks. We almost always lost no-show chargebacks. All the guest had to do was saw they canceled (usually that was a lie) and prove they were at another hotel or in a different city. The credit card company almost always sided with the guest in a no-show dispute. Every hotel will be different. But, I'd guess we only collected money on 30-40% of our no-shows.
In the end, without access to proprietary information or some former insider willing to talk, I doubt you'll find a good explanation.
Thanks. That's interesting about the no shows. I had no idea it was so easy to get the charges reversed just by saying "I called the hotel and canceled."
But I don't see why it's such a secret or why proprietary info would be needed to figure out the reason why they prefer to charge in cash. They should just say what the reason is.
Because you are more likely to show up or cancel the reservation if you are penalized in real money rather than "funny money" for a no-show.
Yeah, maybe hotels really don't like no shows because then they get no incidental revenue like F&B, laundry, etc. in addition to not being able to fill the room. So perhaps "maximum financial punishment for guests who no show" isn't a terrible strategy.