sfo

I notice as I look at hotels in Europe that the advance booking policy seems to have changed.
You must pay your hotel in advance, but if you cancel up to three days before arrival you will get a refund.
I assume this is something new, as I did not find this when I booked my hotel stays in Europe for January 2020

Guarantee Policy

Full amount of stay is payable in advance by credit card at booking time.

Cancellation Policy

No cancellation charge applies prior to 18:00 (local time), up to 3 days prior to arrival. Beyond that time, the amount due is not refundable, even if the booking is cancelled or modified.

Goldorak

Those rates appear around May when EU countries started to unlock. Some hotels have 3 kind of rates :
- the classical non modifiable/ non refundable one
- this new one (pre-payment, cancellable up to 3 days before stay)
- full flex

testman

From what I've seen in my searches, it seems that the basic non-refundable rate is hardly ever used now. At least, in Poland.
Most hotels let you cancel a booking up to 3 days before stay.

I'm wondering when this rate will disappear.
Accor won't keep it forever.

EcotoneHR

I've definitely learned my lesson and from now on will only be choosing fully flexible rates. At least until the pandemic is over with.

IMH

I have recent experience with a pre-paid Accor booking sold as "cancellable until three days before arrival".

The booking was made in July for very early August. I cancelled online around 10 days out, after it became clear we weren't going to travel to London and the hotel wouldn't be open anyway. The refund (cash and points) didn't come through automatically, but was processed quite quickly after an email to the hotel this week.

sfo

Thanks to all that responded. I generally book pretty far out especially when there is a sale. Usually I book the refundable rate and then as the travel dates get closer I cancel and book the non refundable rate. I won't be booking this trip until late November, hopefully this new cancel prior to three days before check in date is available at that time.

IMH

If they don't continue to offer something similar for the next year, at least, they'll struggle to get enough business.

I should have added above that my slow-ish refund might well have been caused by reservations staff not necessarily being on property every day while the hotel remained closed. They'll have been handling a lot of cancellations these past months.

hotel_user

This will now be the "new normal" way of booking for some time

sfo

Accor should keep the "new normal" it will make them stand out from the crowd of hotels that have more restrictive booking policies. Be a leader not a follower.

Accor could find that others that belong to other loyalty programs might switch.

CanadaDH

This is Accor we're talking about. They're not so swift at following, much less leading.

jackr27

I cancelled a booking, the money was returned, the points were not. When I cancelled online, it said as part of the terms that the points would not be returned, but it definitely did not make any reference to this when I made the booking and chose to use some points.

An email to customer service has resolved this and the points have now been refunded but it took a good week. I don't know why they seem to enjoy adding in complications.

sfo

I was just looking at the three Fairmonts in Vancouver.
One of the hotels, still has the non refundable rate. The other two hotels can be canceled up to a day or two before arrival.

Looking at the hotels in the US. Depending on the city and the hotels, some are non refundable and others refundable if canceled the day before arrival

I looked at the lowest rates which are the non refundable rates.

A different policy for cities and hotels. Why not just one policy for all hotels? Seems like that would be the right route to take.

CanadaDH

I think if you take another look at those rates, you'll find that whether or not they have a non-refundable option, or don't have a fully-flexible no deposit option, also varies with the date. It also seems to vary with whether you use the Fairmont website or the Accor website, which is really stupid, since they really should both have the same offers. But, I'm perfectly fine with local hotels making different terms available, depending on what's going on at the time. Every destination has its busy season, slow season, or even special event crazy season. I don't fault Chateau Whistler asking that all stays be paid a few weeks in advance during March break. Or the Chateau Laurier requiring prepayment and minimum stay over July 1. And during a normal year, I'm sure you'll see a difference in Vancouver between cruise season and other times of the year. At least, during normal times. I think in the current environment with the worldwide uncertainty of COVID, most places should have a flexible option available if they hope to get any business, since the majority of travelers are likely nervous about putting down anything non-refundable at the moment (especially if they were already burnt once by losing a deposit on a booking made before COVID hit).

martin_paris

there used to be semi-flexible rates at Accor since the early 2000 but they had since been removed.