Of Hotel Bookings and their Restrictions

I have been working as subject matter expert for an online travel agency based in the US and I had more than enough of those times when callers would shout on you especially when you discuss the restrictions of their booked travel items.

At this time, I would like to tackle on hotel bookings.

What is in the mind of most customers is that they have a 24-hour leeway in canceling their bookings. Indeed, there are hotel properties that are not very restrictive of their restrictions.

One of the facts that are not quite known to most customers is that the hotel reservations they are arranging with online travel agencies are contracted bookings – contracts between the hotel and the online travel agency. The online travel agency would buy a number of rooms from a certain property and offer it online for a much lower rate than the property’s published rates.

These rooms are then subject to the contract agreed by the property and the online travel agency. Of course that’s where cancellation or change restrictions come in.

In most cases, canceling a reservation 72 hours prior to check in time would mean a minimal cancellation fee. Cancellations within the 24-hour period would be subject to the first room night’s fee and tax. Cancellations after check in time (which is usually 3PM local hotel time) would be subject to the hundred percent cost of stay.

It is surprising to know that there are a lot of customers who would deny paying the penalty in canceling their booking especially if they are the ones who booked the reservation online.

The root cause of most arguments of this nature is the failure of a lot of people to read the fine prints of the booking. Of course it is pretty much understandable to argue about money matters but all these can be avoided if everyone would have a clear understanding of the booking restrictions.

So, bottom line is, carefully read the restrictions of whatever booking you are doing online.