bitterproffit

I had several flights cancelled today. I was unable to make it to the Hilton Garden in El Paso. I did online check in yesterday.

When I called to cancel the reservation today, within the cancellation timeframe, she said I had to pay for the first night stay since I had already done OLCI.

Even though I cancelled within the guidelines.

Does that mean you are penalized if you do OLCI the day before with Hilton?

I am calling the Honors desk tomorrow (huge wait tonite), but I have already been billed for the first night.

smmrfld

bitterproffit

puchong

Just curious .. what exactly is the benefit of OLCI?

bitterproffit

In this case, none. I was not able to choose my own room, it simply said it chose it for me.

I was able to get a digital key, so I suppose if I had actually gotten there, I could have just gone to my room.

I would still have to stop by the desk to get my breakfast coupons and waters though.

So, unless you care about picking out your room and it actually lets you, that seems to be the benefit. Seems like the risk can outweigh that.

cjd

Only benefit I see sometimes is if you want to guarantee a favourite room on a certain floor or if you get upgraded to a suite and want to lock in that upgrade. However from other posts I've seen, even OLCI rooms aren't guaranteed and can still be changed before arrival.

Often1

The first phone agent gave the right answer for the wrong reason, e.g., OP missed the cancellation deadline, not that he had done OLCI. OLCI is not a determinant at any property I have ever seen.

When you check the cancellation property, something one ought to always do given variable policies, I suppose that one ought to avoid OLCI if OLCI is specified as ending penalty-free cancellation.

LongingForORD

OLCI makes changes more difficult for the hotel. If you have requests or odd situations, you are much better off to call the hotel directly. With weather situations, I always call the hotel directly, much easier to move or cancel the reservation.

MADPhil

Glad to hear that you got a good result. It is noticeable that in the last few years most non-resort hotels across brands have gone from a uniform 6 p.m. on the day of arrival free cancellation policy to as much as three days notice so, as Often1 points out, you really need to check. There are also plenty of reports that if the reason is beyond your control then the hotel will often be reasonable about it.

bitterproffit

Thanks. Also, if you look at the reservation emails you get from Hilton, they no longer spell out the cancelation policy, they provide a link to the cancelation policy.

Once I called the hotel and canceled the reservation, hitting the link no longer would take you to the cancelation policy.

So, you almost have to write it down when you make the reservations. But I do agree that most properties have gone to a 24-48 hour minimum policy.

Live and learn. The clerks were clear that once I did OLCI, I paid for the first night.

Qwkynuf

But doesn't that seem reasonable? From whatever point you did OLCI and received your digital key, that room is unavailable for sale by the hotel. The longer you hold that key, the less likely the hotel will be able to realize any revenue from that room. I realize that in your particular situation the reason was outside of your control, but in general, imagine that you are standing in front of the desk trying to check in during an oversold situation - and there is another customer who did OLCI but isn't going to make it. Should the clerk walk you, a potentially paying customer, because the other guy "owns" the room? Or should they sell that room to you and hope he doesn't show (and walk him if he does)? If they send you away, and don't charge the other guy, then the room sits empty while two different people didn't pay for it.

Again, not criticizing your situation, just trying to understand what would be the right way to handle something like this.

bitterproffit

I agree with you regarding that it was reasonable to charge me for the room if I did OLCI and if I canceled late (which is what happened in this case).

But, according to the property, it wasn't the cancel time that was late, it was the fact that I had already used OLCI. So I do think it was reasonable to charge me and I am grateful that the Hilton Honors customer service and the hotel manager agreed to waive that charge.

BUT, I am no longer going to do OLCI the DAY BEFORE, especially if I have a 'cancel by 6pm' reservation because the property considers that a done deal at that point.

SK AAR

Why would you even use OLCI ? (in particular of there was chance that your flight would get cancelled and you would have to cancel - I don't get it).

:D!

So you got a digital key.

Consider this situation: the cancellation deadline for a room is 6pm. At 2pm you physically check in and get a physical key.

You don't go to the room, but at 4pm you decide you don't want to stay - should you be able to check out and cancel the reservation and not pay anything?

What about if you go to the room only to drop your bag, so everything is untouched (and a staff member is happy to verify this)? Should you be able to check out without paying if you leave before the cancellation deadline?



If you OLCI but don't get a digital key, that's different. What would have happened if you did OLCI, but you called up and canceled before they issued the digital key?

Maybe the clerk was just unclear and what she really meant was that she wanted you to pay because she had already given you a key, rather than just having done OLCI?

bitterproffit