Originally Posted by
SP03
90% at booking is fairly unusual. It’s usually only at highly desirable resort destinations where people book far in advance and it may be tough to see at the last min (as people don’t just book at flight out the day before).
So I think canceling on the day of is a big financial loss for the hotel. And therefore I doubt the hotel would relent.
But since we have no idea which hotel or why it’s 90% deposit, it’s hard to be more specific on what to do next.
I can think of a few jurisdictions where I'd love to see this tested. You're using points to reserve, there's language that they'll charge you 90% if you cancel. A reasonable person might not assume that they're charging you 90% of $1000 if you cancel. What is that $1000 anyway -- the lowest non-refundable revenue rate at the time of booking, best flexible rate at time of stay, etc? If the hotel wants to charge $900 in case of cancellation, they might have a responsibility to clearly state that -- other chains certainly do -- "in the event of cancellation after 3pm on 11/7/2024 your points will be refunded and your credit card will be charged $900."
When you're talking about the "financial loss" for the hotel, it's also worth keeping in mind how reimbursements of points stays work. Typically, hotels receive a pittance, often just $30-50 unless occupancy is very high. So if you went to court, you might want to ask the hotel to establish actual damages -- which would be $900 only if it was actually at 95% occupancy (or whatever); otherwise, you'd be looking at 90% of that $30-50 number.
Likely not worth pursuing this over $900, though...