How to make and cancel hotel reservations so as not to go broke

How to book a hotel correctly

Don't take it lightly. By booking a room, you confirm that you agree to the proposed conditions, including paying a fine in case of refusal to stay. So take your time and weigh everything.

Compare prices

The best deals are usually those for which the reservation cannot be canceled without penalty. Therefore, your booking should immediately hit the bull's eye. And for this you need to consider as many options as possible.

You don't have to go all over the internet looking for great deals. You can compare prices using numerous aggregator services.

Trivago

Collects offers from hotel websites and booking services. There are several filters to refine your search.

Hotellook

Collects offers from more than 80 booking systems. Accommodation options can be selected by marking the object next to which you would like to live on the map.

RoomGuru

Looks for accommodation options in different booking systems and invites you to choose the most profitable one.

Find out if the conditions differ depending on the booking method

See what conditions the hotel offers to book a room on its website and through the service. It's not just about price. For example, in one case, you may be offered more flexible cancellation conditions or early check-in at no additional cost, but in another not.

Among the services of booking hotels around the world, there are two of the most popular.

Booking.com

A system with which you can find a suitable option and book it directly through the website. You can also benefit from catching a hotel special or joining the Genius Rewards Program.

Hotels.com

International hotel booking service. There are special offers and profitable promotions.

Read the booking conditions carefully

They can be different. The most common options are:

the reservation can be canceled free of charge at any time;
the reservation can be canceled free of charge within a certain period, and if you are late, you will be charged a fine;
if you cancel your reservation at any time, you will be charged the money for the day of your stay;
the reservation is irrevocable, so you will be charged for the entire estimated time of your stay, even if you do not come.

Read the entire booking details page. It may turn out that the cancellation will be free only for a certain number of days, in other cases you will have to pay. These same cases will not be indicated in the most conspicuous place.

Use a separate card for booking

Most often, to book a room, you need to provide the hotel with your credit card details. So they protect themselves from unscrupulous guests. However, sometimes overlaps happen: money is written off twice. Therefore, it is better to send the details of a special card with which you pay on the Internet. It is not worth giving access to a salary account to just anyone.

Estimate the likelihood that the trip will fail

Hotels often offer bargain-priced reservations, provided that the reservation cannot be canceled. Whatever happens to you, the money will be written off. The situation is the same as with non-refundable plane tickets: choose this option if you are sure that the trip will take place.

When the vacation dates are not approved for you, the children are constantly sick, and the fellow traveler sometimes wants to go, then no, it is better to leave yourself room for maneuver and choose a more expensive option, but with less radical conditions.

Do not get fooled by provocations

It happens that you have booked a room through the service. But after a while, they call you directly from the hotel and ask you to cancel your reservation, as due to a technical failure they have too many visitors and there are no free rooms left.

This usually means that the hotel has found customers for your rooms directly and does not want to pay a commission to the service or offered new customers higher prices, and they agreed.

In any case, negotiate with the booking service. Typically, you will be offered similar options, perhaps with discounts or inconvenience bonuses. If you just cancel your booking, you will be left with nothing.

How to properly cancel a booking

Follow the deadlines stated in the booking conditions

If you have carefully read the booking conditions, then you know how long you are given to cancel. In order not to forget, you can put a reminder - naturally, not for an hour X, but with a margin.

Take your last chance

If you haven't met the deadline, try writing to the hotel directly or through the booking service. They may meet you halfway and not write off the money.

Remember that this is a right, not a duty of the hotel.

Be honest and describe the situation. Sprinkle ashes on your head. Suggest lowering the fine. You may come to some kind of compromise.

Make sure to receive confirmation of the cancellation

The corresponding letter from the hotel or the booking service will be useful if you are suddenly charged for your stay, as if you had not canceled anything. It will also come in handy if you paid for the room in advance, canceled the reservation, but the money was not returned to you.

Act within the law

According to Russian law, if a guest has booked a hotel, but canceled the reservation at the wrong time or did not arrive, the hotel has the right to charge him a fee, but not more than a day in advance.

If you decide to sue a Russian hotel that charged you with the cancellation of your reservation for the entire duration of the proposed stay, you can rely on this rate.

In order not to pay a fine, on the Internet it is advised to block the card, close the account and disappear from the hotel's radars. A dubious act for an adult law-abiding person who has carefully read the booking rules. And useless if the hotel still wants to get its money.

The consequences can be different. For example, a hotel might blacklist you on its network or get banned on a booking site. Although most often travelers get away with it.

Take your time if you have booked a hotel for a visa

Booking a hotel for a visa is a common practice. Usually, after returning the passport with the necessary marks from the consulate, the traveler cancels the reservation and goes wherever he pleases. However, the visa may be canceled if the hotel informs you that you have canceled your booking. Therefore, it is better not to risk it.