Narrow Seat

For my birthday my wife and I decided to splurge and stay at a nice hotel that costs almost $500 in another city. The reviews were great and we were really looking forward to it.

That evening out of a clear blue sky the weather turned terrible and huge thunderstorms formed. After a very long flight delay, they decided to cancel the flight and send us out the next day.

The trouble was our flight cancellation did not allow us to stay at the fancy resort on Saturday night. We called the hotel and they said nothing could be done, it was prepaid and it was too late to cancel. $500 lost and our mood turned dark. Our romantic weekend turned out to be a huge fight. My wife was sure that I could talk them into giving us our money back or at least a voucher for another night. No dice.

Have you experienced something like this and did you lose everything?

(FYI: Because it was a domestic flight we did not buy travel insurance.)

wakesetter93

You aren't entitled to anything in that situation unfortunately.

Depending on the credit card you made your bookings with they may be able to help.

enviroian

This is why I never book pre-paid rooms unless I have travel insurance.

Narrow Seat

How many people actually buy travel insurance for a domestic trip? Maybe 5%

enviroian

If I planned a romantic weekend getaway with my significant other you bet damn right I would.

EXP100

I buy prepaid hotels all the time (in part because I always have a coupon rate of 10% to 15% of the PL rate) with the understanding of the risk. I don't buy travel insurance because over the long term it's not worth it. I'd pay far more out in premiums than the the room charge I occasionally lose out on. If the stay is for more than one day you won't get that night refund but if you call the property they will allow you to check in the next day.

pinniped

Long ago, both Marriott and Hilton gave me grace when a flight cancellation caused me to cancel a hotel night at the last minute. (I had Diamond/Platinum level status.)

But in 2022, any form of hospitality/courtesy between the hotel and guest is pretty much dead. You are an adversary through which revenue is extracted, and it's highly unlikely that any hotel is going to give you a pass. You lose. They win.

I don't buy travel insurance either - I assume they'd try to make it very hard for you to claim anyway. The suggestion to use a credit card with some level of built-in protection is probably the best one. If you're a profitable customer to the bank, they may not fight you too hard.

mikew99

I don't think it matters whether the trip is domestic or international. What matters is that the amount of money you have at risk and whether you're willing to lose it if things go wrong.

FWIW, I have an annual travel insurance policy that covers the basics, but I will purchase additional coverage for a trip if the "non-refundable trip cost" is more than I want to bear.

swag

Prepaid or not, a same day flight cancellation almost certainly means you're past the cancellation deadline, and looking at a 1 night no show penalty. You're at the mercy of the hotel's good will at that point either way.

FlyingUnderTheRadar

I had that happen to me once. Fortunately it was in the EU. Airline refund my original flight, paid for my new flight very early the next morning, my hotel that night (not prepaid but a booking guaranteed so still lost the full cost as I canceled that day) and 200 euros on top.

Now the one time we had something more similar to the OP was a week stay and a medical issue arose. Initially they said no refund but when I presented documentation they relented and gave a partial credit. Friends joined us 6 months latter so we got a bigger place and in the end the cost was the same for us. We gave then a good review and would stay there again. We tried but they were full so stayed next door.

For the OP did you fly the next day? If for just a short trip I might have claimed a trip in vain and asked for a refund. I guess the moral is stay the in the fancy place your last night. Regardless OUCH!

MSPeconomist

A hotel manager allowed me to cancel a (NOT nonrefundable but with less than 24 hours notice, so this was beyond the cancellation deadline) at the beginning of summer (2022). I had top published tier status with their chain and had stayed there multiple times in the past (at cheap rates), plus I already had another reservation (which I kept) for the following week. My reason was that I felt too exhausted to drive there safely and would have arrived very late at night. It's not hopeless if you call the hotel (not the chain or some reservation call center) and ask nicely for a future credit. If the reason is a flight cancellation, I would state the airline and flight number (this can be verified easily during your phone call) or otherwise offer to provide reasonable documentation.

Annalisa12

Yep. Has happened to me. Booked a holiday for a few days at the Sydney Star Casino for about $500 and booked the wrong day to arrive. They rang me to ask where I was and by then I couldn't get there until the next night so there was no refund for the first night I missed. Bye bye $500!

lhrsfo

I think that this falls under my travel file called "Stuff Happens", which comes out from time to time. I had something similar a few years back, but fortunately it was the other way round. I checked out of my hotel, went to the airport and returned my rental car, only to find that there was no record of my flight as I'd booked it for the following day. Back to the rental car counter and then to the hotel, with my tail firmly between my legs.

pinniped

I'd venture to guess that most Americans have their home/auto insurance through a company that doesn't sell travel insurance, nor do they live in a state where the insurance commission publishes clear information about the governance/regulation of travel insurance.

The main thing I hear about TI in the US is that people buy it, something happens, and then the insurance company fights them like hell to avoid paying claims. It's usually a company with whom they have no other longstanding relationship as a client. It's usually unclear where the company is chartered and how you'd even dispute a rejected claim.

Ultimately, it's just not a mainstream product here that consumers ever learn much about. If USAA, where I have my home and auto policies, sold it, I'd be somewhat more likely to consider it. When I lived in the UK, I knew a few people who had annual policies from one of their major national insurers...it seemed like a much more mainstream product there. Advertised on the Tube, companies everybody knew, etc. Plus I'm guessing regulation there was more at the national level and easier to get information about how to pursue a dispute.

For most of the biggest international trips with the greatest risk where I might consider insurance, a bulk of the value is tied up in miles and points. And I don't believe TI handles that situation well...

I have bought travel medical/evacuation insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield before. I trust them more than most other American insurance companies...

Qwkynuf

Just as a data point, I had a weeklong trip to Tucson for work at the end of this past August. In a super rare event (for me) I got sick. Felt great when I left for the airport Monday morning, by the time I got to my hotel I felt like I had been hit by a bus. I was staying at a Hilton Garden Inn downtown, and their website said that they charged a $50 "early departure" fee, but by Tuesday morning I was thinking that was the least of my problems.

I changed my flights so that I could go home Tuesday, went down to the front desk and just said that I needed to check out earlier than I expected. They didn't mention or charge the fee. I don't know if it's because I'm diamond with them - I didn't mention it and they didn't ask.

Turned out to be Covid, so I got to check *that* off of my bucket list!