retiredfromhilton

Hilton has told their reservation sales agents that on July 12 they will announce a 48 hour cancellation policy effective July 31across nearly all of their managed and franchised properties in North America.

In the third week of June the Diamond Desk agents were told - after a revolt by Diamond members they could once again call properties on behalf of diamonds members needing late cancelations. (Hilton experimented with not allowing calls fornDiamond members from late May.). Now it looks like they are again being told no exceptions for Diamond members.

It will be fascinating to see if Hilton or Marriott can make this stick; or whether it will unravel as did Hilton's experiment with a cancelation fee.

Popcorn's popping.

adambrock

But can the property override this if you call directly? That's been my experience since they announced this change last time. Never had an issue when my flight was cancelled or plans changed last minute.

aztimm

Will this apply to all rates?

I've taken advantage of the AARP rate, which seems to always have a 24 hour cancel.

Lomapaseo

as always, read the bold print in the booking window. it may vary

retiredfromhilton

Properties should be able to do as they please. This works in favor of people who visit a few properties often. The issue will be for people who stay at lots of different Hiltons. At present Diamond reps manage a tension between properties that care little for how often a member stays within the group but care a lot about how often people stay with their property. By reminding the properties of the value of Diamond members, they get late cancel fees waived probably 90% of the time.

Last month's 'experiment' of not allowing Diamond reps to call properties for late cancelation exceptions showed that the properties almost always charged the members the late cancelation fee (typically one night's room + tax, but sometimes much more). The Diamond Desk was able to make post facto written appeals on behalf of members and those were successful some of the time, but typically as a one time exception - only if there was no evidence that a late cancel fee had ever been waived in the past.

worldiswide

Had not heard about this... we are ones who stay in a lot of different Hiltons infrequently. I will definitely like to see how this plays .. any information or data on what happens if there are flight delays... or weather and storms like we had in Chicago yesterday with these types of policies?

Simon Schus

Will there be any communication on this from Hilton via email, their website or on social media? Or, perhaps Lauren - will you be mentioning or announcing this change in policy?

InkUnderNails

No. When doing a downgrade of service, it is usually less painful to let the customers learn individually as they make reservations. The knowledge we gain here is only a tiny slice of the HH universe.

I really dislike this. I did not like the change of day of arrival to 24 hours, but I made it work. Two days is much different, particularly if the travel is one day out and back by auto. If another chain with significant availability stays with 24 hours, I will likely move a lot of my business. I suspect Hilton does not care.

A slight upcharge for 24 hour or even day of arrival might be acceptable. We already pay more for 24 hour versus prepaid so adding other tiers is not unthinkable.

robnc35

yeah this kinda of screws my business travel a bit

MsAssertive

As a five year Diamond member, this might be my last year at that level with this change. Since Marriott went to their extended cancellation policy, I haven't spent a single night in one of their properties. Some of that business shifted to IHG. The Hilton 24 hour change wasn't too terrible as I could call the Diamond line and shift my reservation to another Hilton property in the city I needed to be in without a hassle. If they're going to eliminate that option, I'm done. In sales, flexibility is key for me.

bse118

A big fat Meh! from me. I can't see how this would affect my booking behavior at all.

Diamond, work travel, stay at lots of different Hilton family hotels across the globe, no 'regular' hotel.

GUWonder

Cancellation insurance of sorts from the hotels? Don't be surprised if it ends up another hotel product that shows up as an option for additional money eventually.

The greedy hotel majors seem to be just testing the waters to creatively boost revenue. Sort of like the growing trend for city center hotels in the US to have resort/facility fees.

kirkwoodj

It's past July 12, no news on this...

isle-hawg

Same for me.

mnredfox

I wonder how this will affect business travel. I know for me I cancel within 24/48 hours at least once per month.