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

Mobile check-in is becoming increasingly common with the big hotel chains. You can check-in via the hotel app, often selecting the exact room you want from a floor plan, and then (depending on brand and country) go straight to your room without bothering the front desk.

I’ve never been too happy with this. Some people believe that an early online check-in will stop you being upgraded. You may miss out on any vouchers or offers handed out by the front desk.

However, you can occasionally use mobile check-in to salvage some value from a prepaid hotel room when you can no longer make it.

If you have a pre-paid hotel room that you can no longer use, you should use mobile check-in regardless.

It will sometimes – and only sometimes – trigger the credit of hotel loyalty points from your stay.

In theory the hotel is meant to monitor whether the room is accessed or not during your stay before awarding points, but this does not always happen.

I did this at Marriott Manchester Airport (now a Delta hotel) a few years ago. The stay credited as it should.

A reader sent me a similar email last time we discussed this topic:

“I booked a non refundable / exchangable cheap room in the DoubleTree by Hilton [Name Redacted] hotel which I was unexpectedly unable to use last week.

As there was no benefit in cancelling the room, I checked in online and went for the keyless entry option, giving me access via my phone. I was at all times 120 miles away in Norwich.

The following morning I was asked if I wanted to check out via the app, which I duly did.

I have just had an email thanking me for my stay and confirming my points.”

There is clearly no guarantee that this trick will always work, and you’d be crazy to book a non-refundable room as a mattress run with zero intention of personally checking in.

However, if you end up facing the loss of a pre-paid hotel room due to a change of plans, this is a way to try to salvage some value from the situation.