Hotel deposit refunds

I received a voucher from Timhotels. But I cancelled before the travel ban.

I think it is very much on a case by case basis, particularly if you booked a non-refundable fare to begin with.

For hotels, email the hotel and politely cancel the reservation and ask for a refund. I had non-refundable rooms at a hotel, but they very kindly cancelled without penalty. They didn’t have to, and I was pleasantly surprised. Others tell stories of the opposite and they are just out the money.

For airlines, part of the challenge can be just getting through to customer service with most airlines and online travel agencies overwhelmed by call volume. Most have notices to call only if your flight would be in the next 72 hours so they can assist those with highest need. Several have now installed forms on their sites where you can cancel reservations by completing the form, emailing it in, and they promise to try to get to it within a week.

One advantage for flights is if your flight is cancelled by airline vs. you cancelling, you are eligible for a full refund even on a non refundable fare.

Many hotels have been understanding and allowed refunds even when they didn't have to. It's called good business sense as they want you to come back. At a minimum they should provide a "rain check" or voucher. Cruise lines are doing this.

Booking through a site like hotels.com makes it more difficult to cancel as you can't get through to anyone.

Swiss Air is only allowing refunds for flights they have cancelled. If your flight is not cancelled, you can cancel yourself and receive a credit that must be used by the end of the year. Swiss Air is still flying Chicago to Zurich. I'm hoping they will cancel my April flight.

From their website: https://www.swiss.com/us/en/various/breaking-news

Booking through a site like hotels.com makes it more difficult to
cancel as you can't get through to anyone.

Refundable bookings can be cancelled at the click of a mouse with no human intervention needed. The process is straightforward. I've done it countless times.

To the OP's question, everything depends on the cancellation policy and the terms of the booking - whether refundable or non-refundable, and whether or not a money down deposit was needed (some hotels require it, many larger ones don't). The ease of cancellation depends on whether you can do it online or have to reach a person.

Yes! I am pleasantly surprised and delighted that Hotel Diana in Paris promptly fully refunded my non-refundable (previously paid), without hesitation. It was only for one night in June but they didn’t have to considering it was clearly non-refundable. Thank you, Hotel Diana! I am hoping this goodwill extends to the two AirBnB bookings I am still waiting for confirmation from the hosts.

I applied on-line for refunds from Delta for a canceled flight (and expect no problems) and from Emirates, with whom I've already had problems when they charged me a change fee contrary to their written policy. I appealed twice to no avail. Based on this experience, I'm expecting trouble for the ticket although it was a refundable fare.

Our hotel in Dubai said we could use our non-refundable rooms in the future, but they then said it had to be within two months. I guess we won't go to Dubai next year after all.
Edit: today I got the ubiquitous email from the hotel asking how our stay was.

Bets, within two months? C'mon!

I have a scheduled trip to Spain in early June. I politely emailed our VRBO host if she was willing to extend the cancellation without a penalty (currently 3/31) until we understood future travel restrictions in the coming weeks. She graciously agreed without hesitation. More than likely, the travel ban will be extended and nice to know we are a global community looking out for one another. Still hoping like heck to be on the plane to Spain....

Our refund from KLM was posted to our credit card in less than one week--quite fast, given how many cancellations they have had to process. We had an apartment reservation that became nonrefundable about one week before our cancellation. We've been in contact with the owner; she is extending a credit to us valid for a year plus a special rate should we decide to extend our stay. Quite fair, I think, given that we knew the terms we agreed to. Even if we can't return within a year we may be able to renegotiate with her; if not, it will cost us no more than the cost of trip insurance. In my experience, hosts have been most gracious about cancellations and refunds.

Some hoteliers are generous, allowing free date changes. Others are rude.

I know which ones I will go to when our trip is rescheduled.

post above (not bushnell38's) reported to webmaster

It would be good to compile a list of those who give refunds, and those who do not give refunds. I would not patronize the ones who are using this situation to make money.

Sadly, no. Booked direct with a guest house in Iceland. When I canceled, they said no refund as flights were still going to the US. Then they offered me 10% on my next booking when I asked if they could move my reservation to later in the year. After a few more emails, they upped the discount to 50% or 179€, if I reserved our rooms within 24 hours. Wait, it gets worse. When I was looking at the rooms to see if they were available, they cost 80€ per night, the same as what we were charged for March. After asking my daughter if we should go ahead, as had finally, finally gotten in touch with Icelandair to change the flights, went back to their website and rooms were now 104€. I wrote and asked them why the huge increase and they said it was their pricing software - Room Genie. Nothing they could do about it.

So, now we went from having a great room for 80€ per night to one that costs 147€ per night. Really upset at this. The Iceland Travel Board has advised all accommodations that they do NOT have to give any refunds at all.

I explained I was on vacation and did not want to sit in quarantine in the US, but they were just so stubborn about this. Lack of empathy when all of us are going through the same losses.

There will be plenty of time for that, but right now is not the time.

I don't really agree. I agree that adequate warning should be given, and adequate time should be taken to ensure that no false postings be made. Ms Jo's experience is indicative of the need for such a list. If we had this list, it would be an incentive to be reasonable. At this point, some places are being inflexible to cash in on the deposits. That's not a good thing.

Everyone has a different idea of what is "reasonable" here. I don't think that such a list would be a great idea, because one angry person who doesn't disclose all the facts of the situation can make it look much worse than it was.

I have empathy for money lost by travelers and businesses that are returning nonrefundable deposits are to be highly praised!!!

But folks (being clear, not all or even many) need to understand these events that are stopping you are also stopping businesses- many won’t survive. No business is prepared for this type of a immediate shutdown. Entire economies of some small countries will be in question.

And lastly- nonrefundable means that. Just exactly that- nonrefundable. There are no the dog ate my homework, or granny dies, or the whole world might get sick excuses handed out. Nonrefundable is a very easy concept. You paid, the money is gone. Period.

Again, I’d love a list of businesses going above and beyond. But do not shame those following the rules that you are upset with because you suddenly think the rules you agreed to shouldn’t apply to you.

I get the non-refundable part of business, but when circumstances like what is going on in the world today happen, applying the money to a new reservation is not a refund in my eyes.

Remember when the volcano went off in Iceland a few years ago? Hotels & airlines that didn't give refunds were considered to be the bad guys. This is no different.

Oh, I think Jo gets it very well and doesn't need any lessons. She's in the tourisn business but decided to refund all her prepaid customers. She's smart enough to take a hit now but build for the future. She doesn't need lectures about prepaid; she has prepaid customers everyday.

I agree with her; some businesses are building good will for their future. A few, not many really, are sticking to stringent rules. That's their right, but it means they're losing a future customer. I ran into problems getting a refund from two businesses in a rich oil-producing country, including on a refundable business-class air ticket. So, once this is over, that country is off my list, and I'm sure Jo will think twice before plunking money down in Iceland though she's flown through there many times.

Oh gosh, Wally. Thank you so much for your words of wisdom. If only I would have let you make my travel plans last Nov.

Wally, you need to practice your reading comprehension skills.