Re-Booking Previously Booked Hotels

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Renato1

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Until a couple of weeks ago, I've always done an exhaustive search for hotels, picked and booked them and then forgotten about them till the trip.

But a friend of mine said her strategy was to pick them with the free cancellation option, then to constantly check and recheck the prices. And if the price drops - cancel the booking and immediately re-book at the lower price. She said she had saved A$400 on a hotel in Mexico doing this for an upcoming trip.

Taken to its logical conclusion, one could keep doing this till nearly the last date, and then re-book using the non-refundable rate (since it's unlikely the trip will be cancelled at that stage).

Anyhow, I did the rechecking last night and found that the hotel in Stockholm had dropped $40, so I re-booked and saved $40.

But the apartment in Copenhagen had actually gone up over A$300, and the hotel in Doha was over a $100 dearer - which made me feel good.

Does anybody else regularly apply this strategy?
Regards,
Renato
 
Until a couple of weeks ago, I've always done an exhaustive search for hotels, picked and booked them and then forgotten about them till the trip.

But a friend of mine said her strategy was to pick them with the free cancellation option, then to constantly check and recheck the prices. And if the price drops - cancel the booking and immediately re-book at the lower price. She said she had saved A$400 on a hotel in Mexico doing this for an upcoming trip.

Taken to its logical conclusion, one could keep doing this till nearly the last date, and then re-book using the non-refundable rate (since it's unlikely the trip will be cancelled at that stage).

Anyhow, I did the rechecking last night and found that the hotel in Stockholm had dropped $40, so I re-booked and saved $40.

But the apartment in Copenhagen had actually gone up over A$300, and the hotel in Doha was over a $100 dearer - which made me feel good.

Does anybody else regularly apply this strategy?
Regards,
Renato
All the time but usually only till a week out then I concentrate on other things. :)
 
We re-check quite frequently in the leadup; better the $$ in my pocket than theirs.
 
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Yes, definitely. Depends on city, chain (or not), day of week and time of year. The more you frequent a particular city the more you can work out the pricing nuances around refundable vs non-refundable bookings. But watchout for deadline creep, over the years in some chains in some places this has moved from cancel free of charge on day of arrival to as much as 5 days before arrival. Definitely worth understanding T&C.
 
Booking.com has got a bit cagey now and seems to notice when you have multiple bookings for the same date/location. They send an email requesting you to cancel the one/s you don’t need. I sometimes book more than one property while I check out reviews/location etc but usually cancel those not needed after a short time.
And yes, rebook then cancel...in that order.
 
Judging from the number of responses, I seem to have been very late to the party on this trick!
Maybe this thread will prompt other laggards like me.

Booking.com has got a bit cagey now and seems to notice when you have multiple bookings for the same date/location. They send an email requesting you to cancel the one/s you don’t need. I sometimes book more than one property while I check out reviews/location etc but usually cancel those not needed after a short time.
And yes, rebook then cancel...in that order.
Interesting, thanks - I hadn't thought of that - though I can see why Booking.com would get cagey.
Cheers,
Renato

All the time but usually only till a week out then I concentrate on other things. :)
My friend does it very frequently - she claims she picks up special deals that aren't there for long that way.
Cheers,
Renato

I do it too. And sometimes move to a non-cancellable rate a few days out from the stay date.
Just make sure you do it the other way around! Re-book first and then cancel. :)

Thanks, though I cancelled and re-booked within half a minute.
Regards,
Renato

We re-check quite frequently in the leadup; better the $$ in my pocket than theirs.
Can't argue with that!
Cheers,
Renato

I have done this many times (although I rebook then cancel).
How come I've never thought of doing this??
Cheers,
Renato

Yes, definitely. Depends on city, chain (or not), day of week and time of year. The more you frequent a particular city the more you can work out the pricing nuances around refundable vs non-refundable bookings. But watchout for deadline creep, over the years in some chains in some places this has moved from cancel free of charge on day of arrival to as much as 5 days before arrival. Definitely worth understanding T&C.
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.
Cheers,
Renato
 
I have also done this a few times - where Fx movements bring prices down.
 
I must admit I have never done this but definitely will consider it in the future.
 
Taken to its logical conclusion, one could keep doing this till nearly the last date, and then re-book using the non-refundable rate (since it's unlikely the trip will be cancelled at that stage).

It's not necessarily the 'logical' conclusion. Many hotels have two rates - a discounted non-refundable rate, and a higher flexible rate. You take the gamble on whether you'll end up with a rate that is lower than the original non-refundable rate. Much like an airfare.

If you want flexibility in case your travel plans might change the higher rates apply, but you can rebook if the price drops.
 
Always book flexible rates and check regularly. The Hilton App on my iPhone makes this really easy. No need to cancel and rebook, just change to the newer rate. Have saved thousands in a couple years.
 
I've recently done it with a hotel in Sydney and saved $200 over a period of 10 days. So definetly worth it.
 
It's not necessarily the 'logical' conclusion. Many hotels have two rates - a discounted non-refundable rate, and a higher flexible rate. You take the gamble on whether you'll end up with a rate that is lower than the original non-refundable rate. Much like an airfare.

If you want flexibility in case your travel plans might change the higher rates apply, but you can rebook if the price drops.
Thanks. Yes, in the past I've often taken the non-refundable rate from travel agents, when it was lower than the Booking.com non-refundable rate.

But old age catches up, as do pre-existing conditions. My wife and I both had back operations last year and our specialist says we are fine and can do whatever we want. But when I put "back operation" into the pre-existing conditions for Complimentary Travel Insurance, it added many hundreds of dollars to the premium. I rang Allianz up, and the lady said "Well, if you don't want to be covered for your back operations, I'll cancel your policy, and you can apply for it again and leave out the back operations - and you won't be covered for anything to do with your back". Which was what I did.

The question then arises as to who do I trust - the specialist who is the expert on back operations or the insurance company who is the expert on paying out claims for back operations?

Result is that I am now very wary of the non-refundable rate, given our situation.
Regards,
Renato
 
I've recently done it with a hotel in Sydney and saved $200 over a period of 10 days. So definetly worth it.
Very interesting, thanks.
Renato
I've done this many times, saved $300+ once on a Hilton.
Great saving,
Renato

Always book flexible rates and check regularly. The Hilton App on my iPhone makes this really easy. No need to cancel and rebook, just change to the newer rate. Have saved thousands in a couple years.
I didn't know this was possible, thanks for letting me know.

Annoyingly, the Hilton App doesn't work on my Android 4.2 phone.
Regards,
Renato
 
Thanks. Yes, in the past I've often taken the non-refundable rate from travel agents, when it was lower than the Booking.com non-refundable rate.

But old age catches up, as do pre-existing conditions. My wife and I both had back operations last year and our specialist says we are fine and can do whatever we want. But when I put "back operation" into the pre-existing conditions for Complimentary Travel Insurance, it added many hundreds of dollars to the premium. I rang Allianz up, and the lady said "Well, if you don't want to be covered for your back operations, I'll cancel your policy, and you can apply for it again and leave out the back operations - and you won't be covered for anything to do with your back". Which was what I did.

The question then arises as to who do I trust - the specialist who is the expert on back operations or the insurance company who is the expert on paying out claims for back operations?

Result is that I am now very wary of the non-refundable rate, given our situation.
Regards,
Renato
That needs a different thread, Renato. Interesting topic but nothing to do with hotel bookings?
 
That needs a different thread, Renato. Interesting topic but nothing to do with hotel bookings?
I suspect it has very limited applicability to most people - but it affects my hotel booking dramatically. Hence, why I'm trying to minimize costs with re-booking of the flexible rate.
Cheers,
Renato
 
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