Canceling a reservation with points
 

What is the cancellation policy when booking a hotel with reward points?

Is it the typical 24 hours like with cash reservations?

Thanks!

Jan

The cancellation terms appear on your reservation email and are usually similar to regular reservations.

I would suggest if you can to make award reservations through the 800 line and they will hold it without taking out the points, then wait until the last minute to withdraw the points...in the US, it is electronic so 24 hours will suffice.

So if I make the reservation online, they take out the points immediately?

Then if I cancel within the required time, they put them all back?

Yes that is correct. I had a reseveration at the JW Marriott in Bucharest. I could not get the early flight out and I thought that I would not make it at all so I called to cancel. The points were returned to my account. Well I ended up making it on the late flight and arrived into Bucharest without a reservation at 01:00. :eek: I just stayed at the airport until 6:30 and then went on to my Intercontinental Hotel award a few hours early with no problems.

If you are not completely sure about a reservation, then I suggest you not order the certificate until you are sure. You can make a reservation both online or on the phone without taking out points. Once you decide you really do want your reservation, you can call and have the reservation agent pull your points and get you a cert (most of them will be e-certs now.) If you decide you don't want the reservation, then you can just cancel it. This way you don't have to worry about pulling/returning points at all.

Please note many resort properties have 3 day, 1 week, or sometimes even longer cancellation terms. This is true for both award and cash reservations. However, since many folks only do reseort reservations as award stays, you may not be used to these cancellation terms. As others have already stated, check your reservation for the specific terms for the property your considering staying at.

--Jon