Got a pre-paid hotel room you can’t use? Do mobile check-in anyway ….

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• Tony says:

  8 Oct8 October 09:33

  Mobile check in is useful if you use a corporate rate code and want to avoid potentially awkward interrogations at the check in desk.

  Or so I’ve heard.

  • Harry T says:

    8 Oct8 October 16:54

    Not if you need to show ID at the front desk, which is a pretty common requirement in most countries, even when using mobile check in.

• AirMax says:

  8 Oct8 October 09:40

  I was in a HI Express (I know, not very ABC1) last week and the receptionist was arguing on the phone with someone who had booked a prepaid and wanted to cancel.

  She (the receptionist) said it was through booking.com so nothing could be done but if it had been booked direct, it could have been cancelled or changed without any issue

  • Harrier25 says:

    8 Oct8 October 10:32

    That seems fair enough.

  • Hilda M says:

    8 Oct8 October 11:35

    Sadly, a Holiday Inn in Paris wouldn’t oblige me this August (hotel was full so could easily resell). I rarely book prepaid as often changing plans & hadn’t read the rules for the Senior Rate I booked many months earlier – lesson learned 🙁

    Also, don’t most European hotels require you to present your passport- certainly necessary in Spain.

    • Michael Jennings says:

      8 Oct8 October 12:39

      Depends on the country. In some countries (like Spain), yes, always. In others no, hardly ever.

      • Roy says:

        9 Oct9 October 22:38

        ISTR that in some countries (I don’t recall which) they’re obliged to refund you a significant proportion of the rate if they succeed in retiring the room you cancelled

  • Harry T says:

    8 Oct8 October 16:55

    That sounds completely fair.

• Ranger43 says:

  8 Oct8 October 10:12

  Our LNER train from Scotland to Newcastle has just been cancelled, our hotel booking is with Hampton, spoke to the hotel, they would’t refund or move the booking, (Diamond Member).

  • AirMax says:

    8 Oct8 October 11:39

    HUACA i guess

  • Chrisasaurus says:

    8 Oct8 October 12:21

    Call again be charming and ask to move not cancel which is a far more reasonable request

  • mkcol says:

    11 Oct11 October 14:04

    Were there no other trains? 🤔

• Iain says:

  8 Oct8 October 10:13

  Had 3 hotels booked on a TP run last year which fell at the first hurdle when BA cancelled flight on the morning of departure. Radisson/IHG/Sofitel all allowed me to defer until next trip

  • AndyC says:

    8 Oct8 October 13:14

    Perhaps similarly, had booking at a Grand Mercure, as part of a round-Thailand trip a year ago this month. Unfortunately, couldn’t go due to local flooding. Fortunately, the reservations manager accepted the cancellation, as well as arranging full refund, on the basis that we confirmed our intention to visit at a time of our choosing.

• Julia says:

  8 Oct8 October 10:36

  I’m not sure paying the extra price for a refundable room is worth it anymore. Going through this year’s stays I’ve only failed to turn up at one hotel and still got the points anyway and they credited the stay to a promotion they were running. I think you can do what Rob’s done occasionally but a serial buyer of cheap rooms the other end of the world for a few pounds just for the points may not go down well.

  • Rob says:

    8 Oct8 October 10:58

    If you’ve got Avios flights keeping it all refundable let’s you trash entire holidays at the last minute if, for eg, the weather looks better elsewhere.

    • Camille55 says:

      9 Oct9 October 08:52

      Completely agree re the weather. Primary factor for us when booking/cancelling & re-booking last minute-ish reward travel. It’s worth paying the cancellation if those valuable days away will be in glorious sunshine.

  • Peter K says:

    8 Oct8 October 11:44

    Having been burned a few times with non refundable rooms, the relatively small extra fee to keep them at least semi flexible is worth it to me.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

      8 Oct8 October 14:23

      And the flexibility to cancel and rebook if the price goes down.

  • BBbetter says:

    8 Oct8 October 14:29

    If Covid taught a lesson, that’s to avoid non-cancellable fares.

  • Harry T says:

    8 Oct8 October 16:57

    Yes, but the sensible thing to do is book a reasonable flexible rate with cash or points, and monitor the prices. Often the rates go down every close in, and you can cancel the flexible rate for a better one. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the pandemic, is that it’s worth paying a small extra price for flexibility and peace of mind.

    • Julia says:

      8 Oct8 October 17:53

      I think the ne’ers have it. Perhaps time to review my booking strategy.

• Matarredonda says:

  8 Oct8 October 11:36

  Since the pandemic never book rooms I cannot cancel without charge.
  Not worth the hassle of trying to convince the booking source to either refund or allow to use another time.

• Voldemort says:

  8 Oct8 October 11:45

  Worth asking the hotel to cancel or move first. Okay they probably won’t but I have had hotels take pity on me before and refunded me – or cancelled before they charged the card.

  • Michael Jennings says:

    8 Oct8 October 12:42

    I find hotels to often be sympathetic. Send a nice e-mail, always give a reason for the cancellation (“I have Covid”, “My airline cancelled the flight”, etc etc), and stress that you understand that they don’t have to and you are asking for a favour. If you are postponing the trip rather than cancelling, then ask for a change of date rather than an outright cancellation.

• Tariq says:

  8 Oct8 October 12:24

  Like others, a politely worded email to the hotel to ask if they can move the reservation has always yielded good results for me.

  • Nick says:

    8 Oct8 October 13:04

    I totally agree Tariq! Firstly, just accept that you’re in the ‘wrong’! It’s not difficult, unless you’re just some of the increasingly, ‘Me, me, me’ generation, that just don’t appreciate the rules, and why it’s a discounted rate!

    Be pleasant and it’ll hopefully pay off, but that’s also usually better too, if you’re a regular guest at the hotel!

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