Agreed. (But of course, hotels know that some cancellations will occur, and they overbook accordingly as well. Then customers get mad about being "walked" when the expected number of cancellations do NOT occur. )

Also, I disagree with the whole premise of this thread. I, too, am a "self-payer" but I don't think that somehow we are being discrminated against. When I travelled on business (early 1980's through early 2000's) I had to be mindful of hotel rates -- I couldn't just book any hotel at any rate, willy-nilly. The companies I worked for were generous and I got used to "business-class" hotels (certainly NOT Motel 6-type places), but still, there were limits. I believe this is generally true for most business travelers.

And, there is nothing the least bit "unfair" about their changing the rate when you rebook. Just because you don't like something, that doesn't automatically make it "unfair."

Finally, contrary to the notion that rates always go up closer to the date, they don't. Supply and demand predictions are not always accurate, rates bounce up and down as time goes on, and if the predictions of occupancy turn out to be overoptimistic, sometimes you'll actually see rates go DOWN closer to the date. Granted, this may not be the usual case, but I have seen it happen. @:-)

I agree with the recommendation to book (at least) the "pre-" and "post" days as separate reservations, to make cancellation easier and less traumatic for your pocketbook. Frankly, I'm surprised this never occurred to you.