kirkwoodj

I got 1 day cancellation in South America and 3 day cancellation in SF -- booked day before arrival

Land-of-Miles

Most Corp rates come with negotiated cancellation terms so irrespective of what Hilton does with public rates, negotiated rates may well carry distinct cancellation terms (typically I find that is 6pm on the day of arrival).

GrayAnderson

And now the CEO is talking about barring cancellations out to a week in a story on FT's front page. This is getting absurd.

This is the big thing IMO: For a one-night stay, you're not hit for 10% or 25% of the stay and you're not given a voucher, you're just dinged for the whole thing. I don't think we'd be thrilled by it, but it wouldn't be unreasonable.

One thing this ironically does is disincentivize bothering to cancel within a week. With due respect to other travelers, if a given hotel is solidly inflexible I now have no reason to even let the hotel know anywhere close-in if I'm a no-show.

Another thought: If you're having to cancel within a week (going with the even worse policy), why not re-sell your reservation (by adding someone else's name to it)? I see a business opportunity (albeit fraught with issues) for someone in the Airbnb/Hotwire field (since if I'm going to be out, say, $150 why shouldn't I just sell the room to someone actually going to where I am for $75 and call it a day?).

jamesteroh

A week is absurd, 48 hours is absurd.

If they are going to require a week cancel then they should do what amazon does with a prerelease purchase and if the rate goes down between the time of booking and the time you arrive they have to honor the lowest rate.

It's almost like Hilton is screwing with their most valuable customers. They are awful about breakfast and upgrades and late check outs for diamonds.

And the late cancel policy is effecting mainly business travelers who they make a lot more off of than the occasion weekend leisure traveler.

If they do make this change I hope they offer a diamond benefit of something like a 48 hour cancel policy on all reservations (except prepaid).

arlflyer

This. Hilton knows they won't upset most of the big guys booking on corp rates.

uncertaintraveler

With a one-week non-refundable cancellation policy, why would:

1) Anyone who is inside of the week advise the hotel that they are not arriving; or

2) Anyone who isn't 100% assured that they will be X place on Y date book anything more than a day or two out?

It seems to me that such a policy would cause inventory management problems for hotels, but if Hilton wants to be so customer unfriendly, then why should I care about their potential problems?

jamesteroh

If they go to a 7-day cancel policy I will just start booking all my stays with my corporate rate even if AAA or AARP is cheaper just for the flexibility.

I don't know why anyone would cancel if they are less than 7-days out and something comes up. If Hilton is going to be petty enough to have a 7-day cancel policy I'll go on the app and check in just so they can't resell the room.

arlflyer

Just be sure to book all your stays as a string of one-night reservations so you can check in each night.

adambrock

I changed my reservation same day twice this week because of cancelled flights and had no issues. Maybe the difference was I just pushed back my arrival by 1 day instead of cancelling? I called the property directly.

Originally had a Sunday-Thursday night stay but my flight cancelled Sunday, then cancelled on Monday.

InkUnderNails

I will take door #2 .

On a recent trip, I just waited until the last minute to book when certain that the trip would happen. I kept checking prices for the HGI that I wanted and in the three day window that I was looking, it ranged from a high of $179 to a low of $103 (briefly). I pulled the trigger at $113. I was ready to book at $135 when I started looking but was put off by cancellation policy. I decided that if bad came to worse, there was a Candlewood and a Comfort Suites (among others) in the area. The policy cost them $20 this time. They will get that back and more.

milesmilesmiles

I am now seeing most of most bookings have a 3 day cancellation policy. Gosh forbid I get sick, have travel issues, or a business trip gets cancelled. Maybe I can play the Diamond card, but why even change the policy

jamesteroh

I just did a booking at the Hilton Fashion District and looked at the cancel policy. 2 day for AAA or AARP or 6 p.m. day of arrival for my corporate rate which was fortunately the lowest rate. Some stays though my corporate rate isn't available

nlkm9

I do a lot of one night stays,but like to book ahead and occassionaly will have to cancel and rebook based on traffic, etc. Even a 48 hour cancellation will be a hardship for me, 7 days impossible!! I will not book until day before which will be more expensive which seems to be what hilton wants. Im not happy about it.

InkUnderNails

For those of us with the CC and no corporate account, this is a good area for a new Surpass benefit. Can schlubs like me get a corporate account?

I have been booking a bunch of one day stays lately and this policy is really beginning to bug me. If I have a potential Wednesday appointment and need to travel Tuesday, I need to cancel by Sunday night. However, who plans or cancels business meetings on the weekend? The effect is that I need to know on the last business day, Friday. That makes it five days before the meeting. Monday is a common trip rearrangement day as the week's schedule actually comes into focus, but almost nothing happens on Friday, particularly after lunch.

I understand the need to do this from a yield management perspective. However, even the airlines offer refundable reservations for a higher cost. This is not even an option. Furthermore, even non-refundable flights have a part of the payment that can be applied to future flights.

So, how close are we to seeing prepaid only with the cash taken at the time of reservation? I guess inside of five years.

timfountain

I just booked the Hilton Warsaw for a stay in Oct, directly on hilton.com. T&C's say 24 hours. Confirmation says 24 hours. No mention of 48 hours. At. All.

Hilton needs to clean this mess up, in a net-positive way.