What hotel booking conditions are you accepting?

[Cruiser Elite]

Update on Sofitel Noosa - I spoke to my 'contact' there who actually lived 1 suburb away from me in Melb many moons ago - upshot is for peak holiday season at Sofitel Noosa they do expect FULL prepayment 90 days out - BUT - my contact assures me nobody has lost money up until now at Sofitel Noosa when they had to cancel due to Covid restrictions.

She will monitor right up until Sept 24 at which date prepayment is due and before processing any deposits she will explain cancellation policy in place then.

These circumstances I can accept - I would readily accept funds being held as lieu of future bookings but clearly not open forfeiture.

 

[equus]

Peak holiday (in this case Christmas to New Year) at higher-end SEQ hotels for this year is absolutely crazy. Many hotels fully booked out, and the prices being asked a couple of months ago (before they were fully booked out) were up to double the rates of last year.

 

[bPeteb]

Peak holiday (in this case Christmas to New Year) at higher-end SEQ hotels for this year is absolutely crazy. Many hotels fully booked out, and the prices being asked a couple of months ago (before they were fully booked out) were up to double the rates of last year.

FNQ too. The two places we're staying at after Christmas and across NY are crazy prices for that period now. And that's not really even high season up there.

 

[Must...Fly!]

a) travel restriction could be imposed prior to arrival, so will to arrival.
b) have arrived, restrictions imposed in the holiday area and therefore wish to depart as unable to use any of the resort facilities.

For me, I used to book non-refundable a lot. Well, I used to also stay in hostels a lot throughout Europe as well, so that was easy - minimal up front cost if there even was one. Those days are probably behind me now, but like others, fully refundable all the way, and preferably without a deposit.

I like to support the property where I can. But sometimes I am hesitant to give a deposit directly to a property. Demonise aggregators all you want - and rightly so - but they hold the cash, and are usually good for returning it to you promptly after hitting cancel.

No problem with booking non-refundable if it is short notice and I know I will be there. I guess in a situation of having already arrived at a property, things become a little more difficult and probably more so at the discretion of the property itself.

 

[kcoulson]

Pre-COVID we always booked the cheapest price (non-refundable), with travel insurance as a safety net.

Currently, we only book fully flexible.

We recently had to cancel a trip to Darwin/Broome. According to the fine print, we should have lost quite a few thousand (between the rental car, multiple hotels, tours). Interestingly enough, every single operator were generous and deviated from the fine print. They all charged us token amounts to cancel (obviously caring about their reputations and wanting to keep goodwill for the future).

We had an airbnb in Broome booked (due to lack of competition) that had very unattractive conditions that meant we would lose $750 (50% of the fee) for a 3 night stay. I had to push and send lots of messages, but we got all our money back, even though officially she could have kept our $750 deposit.

Our next booked trip is 100% refundable. However I am wondering why I bother planning and booking anything. Every trip has been cancelled lately.

 

[clifford]

A couple of months ago I booked a fully refundable, pay on arrival, hotel in Victor Harbour through booking.com.

Well, the hotel immediately on booking charged my credit card (which was a bit naughty). When I saw this I decided that this was not somewhere I wanted to stay, and cancelled (free of charge according to the T&C's).

After a couple of weeks when no refund had shown up, I contacted the hotel and was informed that the refund would be processed straight away. When no refund arrived, I decided it was time to contact my bank (CBA) and dispute the charge (heaven knows, I had more than enough supporting information).

Needless to say it was resolved in my favour, but I was extremely disappointed that such an established service provider was seemingly so desperate as to try and rip me off in this way.

 

[Matt_01]

Nothing has changed much for us, we would normally book fully refundable accommodation at the time of booking flights. Closer to travel we have cancelled and changed to last minute non-refundable if the savings were significant.

 

[henrus]

I recently stayed at the Ibis Budget Auckland airport for a night and was surprised by the cancellation policy. You could even cancel after the check in time of 2pm just as long as you canceled before 6pm:

You may cancel free of charge until 18:00 on the day of arrival. You will be charged the total price of the reservation if you cancel after 18:00 on the day of arrival.

 

[Seat0B]

Does booking direct actually give you a better deal? I tried doing this before but had a 0% success rate so I stopped doing it. Also, doesn't booking direct mean your refund is at the discretion of the hotel owner/manager? At least with Booking/Expedia the cancellation terms are crystal clear, a refund is available by a certain date and time, no questions asked, and with fast refund processing.

Not always a better deal on dollars, but I have definitely seen better cancellations policies going direct. And by direct, I mean I use the hotel’s web site or loyalty program so there are always written Ts&Cs. And I screen shot them. In reality though, if you go direct, you often get little bonuses - upgrades, wine, late check out, breakfast 2 for 1 etc.

 

[VPS]

A couple of months ago I booked a fully refundable, pay on arrival, hotel in Victor Harbour through booking.com.

Well, the hotel immediately on booking charged my credit card (which was a bit naughty). When I saw this I decided that this was not somewhere I wanted to stay, and cancelled (free of charge according to the T&C's).

After a couple of weeks when no refund had shown up, I contacted the hotel and was informed that the refund would be processed straight away. When no refund arrived, I decided it was time to contact my bank (CBA) and dispute the charge (heaven knows, I had more than enough supporting information).

Needless to say it was resolved in my favour, but I was extremely disappointed that such an established service provider was seemingly so desperate as to try and rip me off in this way.

Was it the Bluff - if so you're better not going there. It's very tired and not an enjoyable place to stay any more

 

[albatross710]

AirBNB last time I checked was adamant that no refunds in the event of lockdown.
Hotels.com says "no refunds " if you don't turn up
BreakFree says "Full payment is required 7 days prior to arrival."
Holiday rental agency says its up the to individual apartment owners who will tell me after the lockdown starts.

After posting this original post, I called the venues directly.

AirBNb was out due to their policy
A real estate holidays rental was still pushing "subject to owner", so they were off.
Breakfree Caloundra - pay up front with booking, in the event of a lock down, can be rebooked to other dates, if not suitable, refund.
Gimini Resort - direct - pay in full the day before. In the event of a lockdown, refund of unsued days.

Consequently happy to go with either of the final two.