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I see a trend these days that I did not see pre-pandemic. An increasing number hotels are requiring pay now or have non-refundable terms, otherwise the rates are much higher.
I still try to avoid these types of hotels and find others that have similar pricing, but it seems more and more are following this trend.
Will you book a non-refundable rate and are you paying in advance for your reservation?
I see a trend these days that I did not see pre-pandemic. An increasing number hotels are requiring pay now or have non-refundable terms, otherwise the rates are much higher.
I still try to avoid these types of hotels and find others that have similar pricing, but it seems more and more are following this trend.
Will you book a non-refundable rate and are you paying in advance for your reservation?
Priceline and Hotwire have been offering non-changeable and non-cancellable rates on hotels since 1997 or so. Hotels have been offering the same for at least 10 years.
Yes. If I can get a hotel for a 50% discount, I will pay in advance. However, if it is $5 per night, forget about it.
As a general rule, the only non-refundable options we book have such terms apply if you try to cancel within 24-48 hours from arrival date. The vast majority of non-refundable options we come across when browsing offer such rates at a discounted price, with one of the caveats being the non-refundable terms. I see this with airfare, too, if folks are booking basic economy fare tickets.
A lot of the time, the AAA/AARP discount for chain hotels means you can book ‘refund until day before arrival and pay on arrival’ rates for the same or close to prepaid non-refundable.
We take 5 weeks off every summer to get out of the AZ heat and at times need to book a year in advance depending on the destination. I will never book a non refundable hotel because in that time frame a lot can change. Now if it's only a week or two out then I'd probably do it if there was sufficient savings.
We've been staying at more Airbnb's these past few years because we like having a whole house. They're more private and you can save money buy cooking a few meals there and you don't have to deal with people fighting or kids screaming all night.Plus, most times they're cheaper (or not much more) than hotels. We just had to cancel 4 Airbnb reservations which were made last July. We're now thinking of moving and want to stay in the area we're potentially moving to and have made just one new reservation there. Luckily I had those refundable deposits or I'd have been out just over $1,000.
I see a trend these days that I did not see pre-pandemic. An increasing number hotels are requiring pay now or have non-refundable terms, otherwise the rates are much higher.
I still try to avoid these types of hotels and find others that have similar pricing, but it seems more and more are following this trend.
Will you book a non-refundable rate and are you paying in advance for your reservation?
You are definitely right about this. Pre pandemic it seemed a lot of hotel brands we used had 4 PM cutoffs where you could cancel at no charge. My wife was finding you could rebook the day of for less.
Now we are seeing more and more of what you mentioned but we do not lock in. The rental cars are playing this game also. It’s crazy how hotel prices have increased and services have decreased such as room make ups and having to request more towels.
When I have been traveling alone without family we are checking reviews and staying at some of the older hotels in the chains (outside room entry) we have loyalty to in order to get the price to $85-$100 a night.
Definitely seems you have to work much harder to find deals with the hotels and cars post pandemic.
If you pay on the website, watch your credit card charges. Some of those websites are not reputable. I have booked and paid on the website and then for the same night paid at the hotel. I had to call American Express to get one of the charges taken off.
I see a trend these days that I did not see pre-pandemic. An increasing number hotels are requiring pay now or have non-refundable terms, otherwise the rates are much higher.
I still try to avoid these types of hotels and find others that have similar pricing, but it seems more and more are following this trend.
Will you book a non-refundable rate and are you paying in advance for your reservation?
That's not really a "trend." That's been happening for ages. Booking sites only have a certain number of rooms they can offer, you have to book directly through the hotel website if you want the refundable options.
If the trip is within 3 weeks, yes I would book a non-fundable rate, but if the trips is like 3-6 months away, I would be crazy to do so.
However, for flights that's different. The refundable/modified tickets have been awesome for me. If I'm on a boring trip, I can decide to cut it short and the hotel will generally refund me the day I didn't spend there.
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