Barb Delollis of Travel Update posted earlier this week that Marriott will be adopting a new hotel cancellation policy starting next year. This policy has, what I think, are pretty meaningful impacts. Briefly, here is the current policy:
Marriott’s current cancellation policy.
The new policy will require guests to cancel their reservations by 11:59pm the day before, essentially, that 18 hours and 1 minute earlier than the current policy. Big deal, right? Maybe I’m just looking at it from the perspective of liking flexibility, but, from a business travel standpoint, how often do plans change close in? I mean, the whole reason that one books flexible rates for business travel is so they can be, you know, flexible, right?
So, now, if you don’t decide the day before, you’re paying for your room. The big question I have though, going forward, is: What if you are flying to a particular location and the airline has a delay that causes you to either (1) cancel your trip day of, or (2) have to stay elsewhere day of. It will be interesting to see what kind of flexibility Marriott builds into their policy, considering that business travelers are really their bread and butter.
What do you think? Is Marriott’s Change a big deal?
Wow, that’s certainly shortsighted of them. I expect & understand a policy like that from a local B&B or small inn, but certainly not from a mega-chain like Marriott. Travel has so many variables — weather, illness, mechanical issues, missed connections, the list goes on. I certainly won’t reserve a Marriott now for road trips, and their properties will slip way down my list now for other types of travel as well.
@Shari, you make a great point on road trips. Perhaps the most fluid of travel!