Originally Posted by
evergrn
I was just told by the phone rep that, if I make a prepaid/nonrefundable booking right now for, say, Nov 30th, then I have to cancel by June 30th in order to avoid cancellation penalty.
I was actually under the impression that I'd have until Nov 29th to cancel without penalty.
She told me that, after June 30th, all the normal prepaid booking conditions are restored and are applied to even the ones I make in May/June.
Was this rep correct or incorrect?
Hyatt has very similar language for their policy and the Hyatt rep confirmed that I would have until 24hrs prior to arrival to cancel a nonrefundable booking if made by June 30th.
And, reading Marriott's rule over and over, I'm just unable to interpret it the same way that the rep is.
I am struggling with this too. I am torn over making a non-refundable pre-paid reservation over Christmas in a Ritz Carlton in Asia for a quite amazing deal, but I'm concerned about what might happen if I cannot travel.
The relevant cancellation policy, as you noted, is:
For guests making new reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates, between today and June 30, 2020, we will allow the reservation to be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival date.
I had interpreted this to mean that as long as I made the reservation by June 30, it would be cancellable up to 24 hours before, even if the stay itself was in December, say. I think this is the same as your interpretation. However, I think it *is* equally valid to interpret this as the phone rep has done to you, that even for a new reservation made for, say, December, the 'today to June 30' window refers to the latter clause in the sentence (change or cancel) rather than the former clause in the sentence (when you make the new reservation).
I think they could have been much clearer in this, to be honest. It would not have been that hard.