ffay005

I don't think I've ever cancelled a non-refundable hotels.com booking, but it seems likely that many of us will have to do this in the near future.

So is there any chance that hotels.com will waive the non-refundable restriction? Should I cancel online and then contact them, or should I call them to cancel and ask if a refund were possible? Or perhaps talk to the hotel directly?

If anyone has any experiences, I'd be grateful to hear them.

36902BRF

Unless the area you are booked is covered by some waiver (assuming they have any) I would not expect much. I tried to get a refund when my flights were suspended and they said no (I contacted hotels.com directly). It was pretty much what I expected and I have any reason travel insurance coverage so I didn't push harder (it only covers 75% so it was worth asking). Since you have two players involved here both hotels.com and the hotel you can try both but you made need both of them to agree to whatever the deal is so more complicated. Good luck. Another hotel I booked directly with did offer me a credit for a future booking this year. Nice but I likely cannot use it.

WestCoastPDX

It’s not a hotels.com policy of ‘no-refunds’ - it’s the hotel you booked with.

I don’t know why either would honor a refund when the rate was booked as ‘non-refundable’?

nancypants

I have a bunch of these that I need to deal with- China, northern Italy, Madrid. You know, all the hot spots

since my intention is still to travel I’m proposing to contact hotel and hotels.com to ask to move the dates rather than refund

however, I appreciate these are non refundable and anything offered will be a customer service gesture, therefore I’m happy to eat the cost if it comes to it (but I still really want to stay in these places!!)

progapanda

I've had successes this week with moving dates for non-refundable stays. Easily done over hotels.com chat support and with one exception, no difference in rates to make up for.

BuildingMyBento

Did any of the rates "drop?"

progapanda

Ha, well unfortunately not in my case. I was just happy it wasn't a total loss! I tell you, the one time I bite the bullet on buying non-flexible rates, this happens.

AnaTravel

Good luck, Nancy. My travel choices have not been ht as extensively as yours but I've had to change flights and exclude the portion in Israel. The hotel situation is a concern for many travellers. I have six weeks of hotel bookings in different countries coming up. I hope to be allowed to travel.

tatterdema

For hotel only reservations, you can ask Hotels.com to contact the hotel and ask to waive the fee. If you cancel online, you are done, and out the money for sure.

From their website....

"Check to see if your hotel or activity booking is refundable. Many hotels and activity providers are waiving cancellation and change fees."

diburning

I have a booking at a Marriott with hotels.com. Marriott currently has a waiver in place that allows me to cancel for a refund, but Hotels.com is unreachable at all channels. Would it be inappropriate to contact my credit card company for help in this case?

transportprof

I too had one of Hotels.com non-refundable bookings for Melbourne. The Australian border is now closed, and I emailed the hotel directly and they confirmed that that would not expect to keep any funds for this non-refundable booking under the circumstances.

Only trouble is that Hotels.com has charget the funds to my credit card long ago and only sends them to the hotel after the stay (I think). So my money is currently not with the hotel, but with Hotels.com. I've already cancelled online, after misunderstanding the reply from the Melbourne Hotel to think that once I cancelled they would be able to return the funds. I have an email from the hotel stating that they are not charging for any non-refundable bookings under the circumstances. So if this booking remains non-refundable, it's because Hotels.com wants a windfall from all of my money.

Trying to get in touch with Hotels.com customer service by phone or chat has been frustrating, so I wonder whether any FTers happen to have an email address for customer service at Hotels.com? I'm a "Silver" member, if that is relevant. I am in no rush, and just want to get my request in their queue, but don't want to spend hours on the phone or chat line. I also want to forward the email from the hotel directly confirming that they do not expect any payment on this non-refundable cancellation, under the circumstances.

Thanks, in advance.

diburning

I contacted Amex and they told me that they are aware of Hotels.com being unreachable, and that they are urging us to be patient and not dispute the charges until 59 days after the charge was placed. They also said that Hotels.com is working on their website infrastructure to be able to cancel for a refund with fee waivers, but it is in progress. The Amex rep said that this is a very large problem that they're dealing with at the moment, and that premature chargebacks may not be found in the customers' favor if Hotels.com responds to the chargeback inquiry with their standard cancellation policy.