New Cancellation Policy
 

I have a reservation starting tomorrow. I'm confused about whether I can cancel or not without penalty today. It says "by March 3rd." Today is March 3rd. Does that mean I can cancel or not?

Thanks.

Yes you can cancel it today.

Actually, there hasn't been any clarification on that. Do they mean before 23:59, check-in time, or 00:01? And it's only a presumption they mean local hotel time. I know what we want it to be, but I've seen posts stating all three. Asking here is not safe thing to do. Call the property and see what rule they are using at that moment (it could change from one FDC to another too).

The best answer is the sooner the better.

I would think it means the day before going by hotel time, but it's confusing and I don't know why they changed from the old description. The typical note said that you had until 6 PM hotel time to cancel. I'll have to ask tomorrow when we check in.

I was making a reservation over the phone this week (to get a particular corporate rate not available on line) and was told this specific cancellation policy: you may cancel this reservation until 11:59 PM local time the day before arrival.

Per Mr. Socrates, that is true and PLT's still have day of arrival cancellation privileges. Would like to see the later confirmed in practice!

I recently inadvertently made a reservation at an RI for the next day (when I meant for the next month). Realized my issue within 10 minutes and panicked. I called the Platinum Elite line to get their help and they were very nice and reassuring and told me they would cancel it without charge. Eventually it all worked out, but they didn't deal with it properly initially (got charged by the RI). After seeing the charge on my credit card, I called Platinum Customer Service, who spoke with the hotel directly, and the hotel said they would reverse the charge. They didn't. Finally spoke a third time to Platinum Customer Service (a week later, after waiting long enough for a refund) and it was finally dealt with properly.

I'd like to see it in writing. Unpublished benefits can be hard to enforce.

The time is 23:59 on the cancel by date (standard policy is 23:59 day before arrival)

Thanks Socrates, that's good to know. However, how come when you look to cancel a reservation the day before, before midnight, it comes up with the extra screen saying there may be cancellation charges (I assume that's just a warning then?)? It has made me concerned more than once, even when I was cancelling well before 4pm or 6pm of the day prior. But, if it is in fact before midnight instead, that is good news. But, Marriott should change the online system to only bring up the warning at midnight or later then. It's very confusing and I really really wish they would clarify it much better.

+1 I got the same extra warning screen when I cancelled reservations at 9AM the preceding day. The online system should only bring up the warning when the cancellation penalty will apply.

--Jon

Just a guess, but it sounds like a simple math error to me. Cancellation Date = Reservation Date -1 gives you the wrong date (let's not even get into time of day). And since they have to take into account the property's timezone, they've got to be doing more math as the likelihood of the web server actually being in the same time zone is probably rare.

Yes, it's frustrating when the system doesn't work right. Yes, it should be fixed. Will we see it anytime soon? Probably not. So in the meantime it's up to us to keep track and hope the backend works and a charge is not processed.

Cancellation policy for a reservation made on the day of the stay
 

I was tempted to start a new thread, but will try here.

What is the cancellation policy for reservations made on the day of the stay? I'm watching the weather and may need a room tomorrow night. But I won't know until later in the day. If I make a reservation tomorrow (for tomorrow) and then cancel tomorrow evening, what happens?

The unpublished platinum benefit isn't giving me the warm-and-fuzzies.

Thanks.

Generally, they become non-cancellable at time of reservation and messages should pop up saying so. I've had system issues that changed the date to current when searching different rooms. So far when that's happened, a quick call to the front desk has gotten it cancelled.

Personally when I've been in similar situations of not knowing what's going to be needed, I've called the property and ask them. Sometimes they will look and say if they are close to being full where a rez would be wise or if waiting until I arrive at the airport.

I thought you always had 24 hours to cancel any reservation, including advance purchase rates?

Could you provide some link that says that plats "still have day of arrival cancellation privileges." Thanks. I'm not aware that there ever was a Marriott policy (other than whatever a local property might do) that plats "have day of arrival cancellation privileges."

Memo from socrates in the thread.

This is Socrates post to which Joshu362 was referring: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...l#post24391525

Publicly published policy, no; memo policy, it appears so. Soc is usually spot on.

It's right there next to the documentation about Platinum Premier program... :(

Some agents will know about it, some won't.

Thanks everyone for the advice. This is the exact screen that kept popping up which caused my concern. I wound up deciding not to cancel the room because I thought there was a possibility I would still make my trip and didn't want to deal with it. My flight was cancelled due to weather so I didn't make it after all. So, all that and I will likely still be charged although I called platinum line and they said they would cancel, but they were unclear about whether I would be charged or not.

During the NE blizzard in January, we were on a 16 hour flight from Hong Kong to NY. Our connection was canceled causing us to miss a reservation-two rooms. The Plat line got the rooms canceled without any difficulty after the deadline. (Maybe 3 hours past deadline.)

I do miss the 6pm day of arrival of old days!

I thought maybe I missed it. But, of course, it's not there. It's in that other thread about plat premies.

Thanks for the link. Sure beats having to read 204 pages of a 206 page thread.

You're welcome.

agreed - it's always been confusing the way it was programmed

actually the CRS is run on a Mainframe (old updated version of Eastern Airlines res system - IHG uses a version of it as well)....and Mainframes handle time zones very well :)...and before anyone else says it...no I don't know why it wasn't programmed differently

Date of booking doesn't impact the cancellation policy

Unfortunately it's noted on internal documents (that have been distributed far and wide) but being internal I'm sure you can understand why I'm unable to post the full documents here

Being Platinum and weather impacts are the two reasons reservations can be cancelled without charge (now the hotel might not know your trip was impacted by weather unless you contact them)

New Cancellation Policy
 

Just to reinforce this, I called reservations line and they confirmed Platinums still get same day cancellation! I guess another reason to push for LTP.

I have canceled 3 reservations already as a PP day of arrival and was not held to the day before.

In two of the cases I called the hotel and once just did it online. All were due to IRROPS with flights and was not billed for any of them including the online cancellation after the deadline.

Just one experience thus far.

Yeah it would be nice if that was actually a stated benefit, especially since a lot of people always seem to ask "what does platinum really get me anyway?" (although even that would probably get a grumble from some people saying "it used to be pretty much standard, now they're trying to call it a benefit")

Does this "internal memo" apply as well for hotels that have cancellation policies of greater than one day?

I Hope this is true as I have all but stopped staying at Marriotts because of this. I tried one this week, then of course had to cancel because of a snow storm...but they let me off the hook. Thanks (Ren Waverly), but I really don't want to beg or rely on an unpublished policy.

It specifically only addresses the company's standard cxl policy, does not address special events or hotels that have a stronger cxl policy (honestly I can't see a hotel allowing someone who's booked for the Superbowl to cxl day of arrival)

Do I have this right? MI has a standard cancellation policy that is not published and the properties are allowed to not follow it. Doesn't sound like much of a policy to me. I agree with special exceptions for extraordinary events, but publish the policy (especially since it contradicts current policy) and list the exceptions. Transparency relieves a lot of frustration and may keep customers around instead of scaring them off to your competitors.

So what chain are you using then?

Interested in some clarification here. Many references in this thread are to Platinum Premier. I believe that's different (right?) from standard Platinum. So, does this internal policy apply just to PPs or regular Platinums as well?

And, if you cancel via the web, will it still work or does it have to go through the phone through the platinum line?

And, another question, how about for MR point bookings? Thanks.

applies to all platinum members

Roger this isn't at all what I said

Does anyone know if this applies to Marriott Resorts (including Vacation Club properties) as well? We made a points reservation that had a 45 day cancellation period and now, 1 week out, we may need to cancel for medical reasons. We're hoping that Platinum status (and a doctor's note, if needed) will allow us to cancel.