When is the cancelation cutoff exactly?
 

I feel there must be a thread covering this but I can't find it.

I found a decent non-refundable price at the Fairfield Manhattan/Times Square and I booked it this morning. Looking again tonight I found a good rate on Trivago at the New York Marriott Marquis and submitted a LNF request. But I don't want to cancel my existing reservation until Marriott approves my LNF change.

My Fairfield rate says "Changes to your reservation are not permitted. Please note that you may cancel your reservation for no charge until August 16, 2017." What time on the 16th do I need to cancel by? Is it 11:59 Hotel time? I can't seem to find anything other than the date.

Marriott is remarkably vague about this. Unless stated otherwise, I assume it's check-in time at the property, in this case, 4 pm NYC time.

I would literally interpret "until August 16th" to mean no later than 11:59 pm August 15th.

Taken on its own, I would agree. But don't Marriott's cancellation terms usually go on to say, "we will charge a fee of X if you must cancel after this deadline"?

The words "after this deadline", IMO, create some ambiguity. If it says "until August 16th" but then states that the penalty applies "after this deadline" - would it be reasonable to interpret that as, I get charged if I cancel on August 17th or later?

I don't see any ambiguity.

Not in my mind.

I'm not sure that Marriott's policy is such but your literal interpretation is correct. If one could also cancel without penalty on August 16th then it should say "through August 16th" instead of "until August 16th".

What I'm saying is, if you first say that the deadline is August 16th, but then say that the penalty applies if you cancel "after this deadline", doesn't that imply that the penalty applies beginning on August 17th?

I'm just saying that I think there is a lack of clarity in the language used by Marriott. It would be helpful if it said something like, you have until 4 PM on August 16th (or whatever time they want). That would eliminate any potential confusion.

No, if the intended deadline is 12:01 am on the 16th, then any time on the 16th is after that time. Sometimes I wonder if they stay vague about the cutoff to have wiggle room to allow/deny a fee free cancellation. I find most times, if I call the property directly I get a much more generous cancellation window.

If it says you may cancel until the 16th, I've canceled online in the evening on that date and not been charged. In this case it was a free cancel period until 3 days before the stay.

Hilton is similarly ambiguous with their cancellation language. They say 24 (or now 48 or 72) hours before arrival. So what is arrival? I tend to arrive between 7 PM and midnight for my stays.

They should pick one- 11:59 pm, check-in time for the property, 6 pm, etc.

From what I've heard & here's my take on it. If your ressie is for arrival on Thurs, you need to cancel by 11:59pm on Tuesday (for the 24 hour one).

Cheers.

Then would your opinion be for a 2 day cancellation booking originally arriving Thursday? 11:59pm Monday?

I cancelled Tuesday mid-day, got the usual "maybe fee" warning, got a cancellation email stating the points would be returned to my account. I think I'm within my right to do so.

Marriott really needs to clarify this instead of a perpetual guessing game each time. It isn't hard to do.

Amen - and agree 100%.

Cheers.

I have a reservation at a Marriott property (Courtyard) on August 19. Here's the cancellation policy for my reservation:
Then, I have a reservation at a Starwood property (Four Points) beginning August 19. Here's the cancellation policy for my reservation:
How hard would it be for Marriott to specify the time of the cancellation decline, such as "6:00 PM hotel time"?

There's a lot to be said for unambiguous wording.

When is the cancelation cutoff exactly?
 

It's sort of like a religious mystery. You won't really find out for sure until it's too late. :eek: