Change in Cancellation Policy for 2014???
 

I've been a Marriott platinum for about 7 years and have liked that I can cancel my hotels up to the day of arrival if plans change.

The last 2 bookings I did (on the Marriott site and without any special deals) said cancelation is free for up to 1 day BEFORE arrival.

So question is everyone else seeing this too? or is it now different for every hotel and I happen to hit on 2 hotels that have the 24 hr cancelation policy?

FFI, RI, SHS, TPS and CY usually allow cancellation until 6 pm the day of arrival.

Full service hotels on a corp rate often allow cancellation until 6 pm day of arrival.

Hotels tagged as "resorts" often require one day in advance. Often the policy changes due to a local major event, such as a major sporting event or a major trade show.

If not booking on a corp rate, then hotels in major cities often require a days notice, sometimes three days. I have seen a 30 day notice to cancel.

My guess is that you got lucky. Whee, you're a winner!

It varies sometimes by property. I find that most still have the 6PM arrival date cancellation policy. Some will have day before or even up to 6 days before.

On a separate but related note, I called MR on Monday to ask about the policy as I wasn't sure if my flights was going to make it and was told a stay could be modified or cancelled in these situations up until midnight day of arrival for existing reservations.

I was at a FFI last night that has a 48 hr CX policy and was told when I was checking in (was in NY) that many folks called wanting to CX and they were refused since it was within 48 hrs, they changed their plans due to the cold

So Id say its best to check each time before clicking "Confirm"

I made a res for 1 FI out in Cali and by chance when I went to see if they have an outdoors hot-tub, I saw they charge for parking, 1st time I ever saw a FFI charging for parking. Called the hotel to double check and it was confirmed so in passing I said OK guess I have to CX the res and book elsewhere, the guy asked me for my res #s and told me its noted no charge for parking. Pt is no longer assume anything any longer

I booked a room today for March 22 for one night @ the courtyard in San Juan (stay night before cruise) I noticed the cancellation date was 3 days before check in- we have stayed here several times for same reason but never noticed this fairly steep IMHO cancellation policy- does anyone know if this is a new policy- Thanks.

It varies by hotel.

I currently have 8 reservations with day of arrival, 5 reservations with 1 day prior to arrival, 2 reservations with 2 days prior to arrival, and 1 reservation with 3 days prior to arrival. This is indicative of past experiences over the past 15+ years.

Agree. I've had reservations with DOA, 1day before, 3days before, 14days before (the latter usually tied into some citywide event thing). Rule of thumb is to always check, never assume, & if there is a ressie with a cancel other than DOA to note it in your smart phone or whatever you use to remind you of things.

Cheers.

+1 I also think it might be regional too. I was shocked to find that in Hong Kong it's 1 day before arrival when I stayed there on certs. Usually it was like 6pm same day. I didn't realise it until I checked and fortuantely the hotel cancelled it without charge.

+1 I also think it might be regional too. I was shocked to find that in Hong Kong it's 1 day before arrival when I stayed there on certs. Usually it was like 6pm same day. I didn't realise it until I checked and fortuantely the hotel cancelled it without charge.

As everyone else different times and different properties have anywhere between day of to day, two, or more before arrival.

Last year I remember driving from the airport to the customer and talked to PP line. They found me a FS much closer to the customer (that was previously sold out) that was already past the cancellation time and my existing (20 miles away in major metro area) reservation was past the cancellation time as well. PP called closer hotel first, put reservation in (making sure if cancellation on the other one is not going to be free I won't have to pay for this one as well), then checked with further away hotel and canceled it w/o penalty.

At the end I was happy to be much closer for about the same amount of $ and PP line helped me w/o cancellation penalty.

IME, I've never had a problem canceling, even if it was after the deadline, if I was switching to another Marriott property. I've done that many times. YMMV.

Thank you for mentioning this, OP. I've got 17 upcoming reservations in the queue and just double checked: many of them do have cancellations that are earlier than the day of check-in. Eight of the 17 are one, two or three days in advance. This is different than in years past. Some hotels did have earlier cut-offs, but not this many.

Change in Cancellation Policy for 2014???
 

Not only varies by property but by season. I have some beach reservations that are day before in off season but day of in season.

FYI - Extended stay properties (RI/TPS) are typically 1600 not 1800 DOA, typically hotels use a HOUSE policy not a rate specific policy (rate specific cxl policies are very rare)

It is also a good idea to both cancel online and also call the hotel. If you have a 6pm day of arrival - I would definitely call the hotel direct to cancel.

Even if you cancel 1 day before the hotel may not get the cancellation in time. I have been charged even when I cancelled one day before for a 6pm day of arrival.

Also best to cancel with hotel if a day or less before arrival or a day or more before the cutoff time.