New hotel coronavirus cancellation policies

The hotel industry is getting absolutely destroyed by the coronavirus when it comes to occupancy rates. These rates recently fell below 25% and we are seeing record setting drops in occupancy rates. 

But in the midst of all of this, major hotels are revising cancellation policies to allow customers to get refunds –even for those rates which are not refundable or prepaid.

Here is a breakdown of the cancellation policies for major hotels. Note that these will likely be subject to change as things evolve over the next few weeks.

(I’ve copied and pasted their latest updates so that nothing gets lost in translation.)

Hilton

  • Existing Reservations. All individual reservations—even those described as “non-cancellable” (“Advanced Purchase”)—that are scheduled for arrival on or before June 30, 2020 can be changed or cancelled at no charge, up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival day.
  • New Reservations. Any individual reservations you make—even those described as “non-cancellable” (“Advanced Purchase”)—that are booked between today and June 30, 2020 for any future arrival date can be changed or cancelled at no charge, up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival day.

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Hyatt

Existing reservations for upcoming travel through June 30, 2020:

All existing reservations (booked April 1 or before) for arrivals through June 30, 2020 can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival. This includes Advance Purchase Rate reservations.

New reservations for any future travel:

With some very limited exceptions noted below, reservations you make between April 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020 – for any future arrival date – can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival. This includes Advance Purchase Rate reservations.

The only exceptions are reservations booked after April 1, 2020 at Destination Residences and Special Events Rate reservations booked after April 1, 2020. The cancellation policies for a Special Event Rate will be noted in the rate’s Rate Rules section when booking.

Existing Advance Purchase Rate non-refundable reservations for travel through June 2020:

As announced earlier, special exceptions are in place for all Advance Purchase Rate non-refundable reservations made directly with Hyatt on or before March 8, 2020 for arrivals before June 30, 2020.

Guests holding these fully prepaid reservations who have decided not to travel may still opt, at least 24 hours before their stay, to receive 10,000 World of Hyatt Bonus Points compensation in lieu of both their stay and the offer above (if eligible). World of Hyatt points may be used toward future travel at any of our 900+ hotels across 17 brands globally. 

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IHG

We are waiving cancellation fees for existing and new bookings at all IHG hotels globally for stays between March 9, 2020 and April 30, 2020.

We want to help you plan and book any future travel with confidence. So, for bookings beyond April 30, 2020 we want to remind you of the flexibility already built in to our rates and packages that allow our guests to amend travel plans as necessary. 

Best Flex Rate: This rate allows our guests to change or cancel their reservation one to two days prior to arrival, although some hotels may have a different time frame. Changing the date on any reservations through our Best Flexible Rate may result in different pricing and terms, but there is no fee for making changes. 

Book Now, Pay Later: We recently launched a new flexible rate to help you book with confidence.

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Marriott 

  • For guests with existing reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates that are typically more restrictive, we will allow full changes or cancellation without a charge up to 24 hours prior to arrival, as long as the change or cancellation is made by June 30, 2020
  • For guests making new reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates, between today and June 30, 2020, we will allow the reservation to be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival date.

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