Refundable v. Nonrefundable hotels

Always booked refundable or free cancellation hotels, piece of mind is worth the few extra $$.

I book refundable almost exclusively. I have had to cancel vacations at the last minute a couple of times and if I had nonrefundable hotel reservations then I would have lost quite a bit of money. I'd rather pay extra for refundable reservations and preferably for reservations that I can pay at the hotel instead of advance payment.

Actually, the only time that I can think of that I booked a nonrefundable hotel was on my most recent trip earlier this month to Amsterdam. I booked a hotel with nonrefundable reservations after I had already arrived in Amsterdam from the U.S.

I'm sorry that you are faced with the prospect of losing a loved one....never an easy situation.

Edited - changed "I book nonrefundable almost exclusively" to the correct "I book refundable almost exclusively". Blame it on a senior moment.

I reserve most of my lodging on Booking.com. I used to book nonrefundable until 2020 when I lost money when forced to cancel because of the Covid shutdown. Fortunately, a couple of them gave me a voucher, but I lost money on a couple of others. I have given repeat business to the ones who were kind during that time.

The only time I book nonrefundable now is if there is a very special location that I am willing to take the chance. Otherwise, I do pay the refundable lodging at the time of booking when given the choice on Booking because they will give some additional discount.

I book nonrefundable almost exclusively.

Based on the rest of your post, this lead sentence appears to misrepresent your booking practices, Sherry.

A lot of people on this forum do book non-refundable. Many OP's asking for advice are unable to use the advice they get because their reservations are already locked in.

Sorry to hear about your friend's health. At my age a lot of things can happen before and during a trip, things that doctors cannot anticipate. I do all the planning and booking, and I exclusively book refundable - don't want my younger wife to fund my "celebration of life" by holding car washes. Also, I am (unfortunately) the type who plans, replans, then re-replans.

It depends upon the circumstances, location and a lot of other variables. We had rented a room at a BnB in Palermo. When we looked at the location and wanted to move, we canceled as we had a refundable reservation. We found a better accommodation in a better location. Our friends had booked a non-refundable room. It ended up being okay but not ideal.

So sorry to hear about the circumstances which are causing this question.

Ok I have decided I am going to book the first 5 days of a 10 day between Belgium and Switzerland as non refundable the day before I leave next month and the last 5 as refundable. The refundable was just $100 more.

We have always booked refundable. With a partner with some health issues x 7 years, our travel plans have changed or been cancelled a few times. Two years ago we came home early from Italy and lost one night’s hotel booking for which we paid. The flight change also ended up costing us but we have decided we don’t want to not travel so we will take some financial risks.

I am sorry, Jazz+travels…… Sounds like tough decisions. But it also sounds like you have been able to come to a workable solution for yourself.

I generally book refundable and pay more. I recently had to cancel an entire trip because 2 nephews decided to get married a week apart - nothing that would be covered by insurance. But sometimes, as with an upcoming 2 night stay in Venice, I booked non refundable because of availability.

I thought about booking a non refundable room for this summer. I also had a wedding pop up in the midst of a trip and was pleased to have the flexibility to rebook flights and hotels with no losses - which wouldn't have been covered by my normal Trip Cancelation insurance or credit card benefits.

I always book either on booking.com or the website of the hotel the non-refundable price for the very reason that it is cheaper, never the refundable price. In 53 years of traveling , ie, 26 trips, I never had reason to regret that non-refundable price decision.

Never got "burned", ripped off, or whatever amiss. relative to losing any money.

Re: booking the airfare....always booked non-refundable non-stop Basic Economy, the absolute lowest price possible regardless of "relative" comfort or otherwise.

Refundable vs. nonrefundable are tariffs - not hotels. Travellers will find both in same hotel for same room with different prices.

I recommend always to book directly at the hotel, especially in Europe. Hotels then have better options to handle such cases in a very customer-friendly way because they are not losing money to booking systems.

If I book nonrefundable I try to book with a credit card which covers certain cases of travel cancellation insurance.

With one exception I have booked refundable. The one time I didn't..... Yup, you guessed right. I cancelled. A friend experienced a loss and well, friends are more important than money. Recently in the US I've noticed that despite booking "refundable" rooms you must cancel 48 hours ahead or you are charged. I haven't had to cancel with such short notice but it's a worrisome trend.

Jazz+Travels, I wish you peace.

If I am booking months out, or travel that includes others, then refundable. Booking closer to the date, and plans are pretty well set, then I will go non-refundable. It is just a matter of assessing risk of change, both instigated by you, and then by the world at large (sickness, injury, loss of a loved one, things like covid) Basically, with refundable, you are buying a bit of an insurance policy.

I generally avoid places though that want both non-fundable, and payment immediately (except the few days preceding), just more opportunity for things to go wrong.

How often do you book non refundable hotels stays which are cheaper than refundable?

Never. Too many variables.

However, I do monitor hotel rates. If they should go down, I rebook my reservation.

The only thing I book non-refundable is airline tickets. But even with those, in most cases, I can change dates or apply the money to another route.

After 2020, I always book refundable. But it isn’t just for cancellation of trips, I also have changed hotels or even my itinerary a bit. Also I have a couple times booked the wrong night by mistake and could correct it without penalty.

In 2019 I booked nonrefundable Premier Inn reservations in London because it was a lot cheaper. It all worked out. But then in 2020 my daughter did the same in January for Rome where she and her husband were going to go prior to meeting us in Northern Italy. She lost $600.

I usually book the refundable rate. A few times I have not, and when something came up, the properties were very kind and did refund the money. Once was when Covid hit, and I had booked the nonrefundable rate on booking.com . I figured we were just going to have to eat the cost, but booking had a popup that suggested messaging the hotel. I did, they refunded, and I booked directly with them the following year. Then about a year ago on a trip to mom's, we needed to cancel the hotel. I called them and explained the situation and they were also very kind and refunded immediately.

I do have several nonrefundable hotels booked for our September trip, and one for our August trip. Worst case, we eat the cost. Not that I want that to happen, but it is not an earth shattering amount and I knew the risk when booking.

I guess I book a mix, depending on how 'certain' I feel it is that the trip will come off and how much I am willing /can afford to lose. I would say I book refundable the vast majority of the time.

In mid-March I was looking at hotels for London for mid-June, and though I could have saved a couple of hundred bucks each time by booking non-refundable, I knew that wasn't smart given the variables that will come into play that could keep me from actually traveling. I ended up lucky though and not having to book anything, as three different sets of friends offered up places for us to stay.

For personal travel, I normally book non-refundable. Emergency cancellations are (mainly) covered by my travel insurance.

For work, normally refundable - I travel frequently to London, and almost every trip have had to make amendments and cancellations to some days of my bookings.

I generally do not book non-refundable accommodations. I consider the "discount" to be too insignificant and not worth the potential loss.

I've always booked refundable and I can't think of a single occurrence where I've needed to get a refund. It does have me thinking that I should save a few bucks and book non refundable.

I too book refundable or pay at stay rates. If it is one night, I have on occasion booked the non refundable to save some money.

I think the reason for these cheaper rates or charging two days before arrival scenarios are in part due to the advent of booking sites. People book two or three places and then decide at the last minute which one to go with and then cancel the others. Often these cancellations are at the last minute and the hotel can’t then fill the room.

Thank you, Mikliz97, for your comment! I currently have a non-refundable 2-night reservation at Martina Franca for a trullo that I made several months ago. Recently, I have been feeling stressed when thinking about walking back to it in the evening and also to the train station early morning. So, I just sent a cancellation through Booking, and it gave me the option to give a reason for possibly a partial refund. Either way, I feel like I made the right choice.

I'm with OP on the self-indemnification idea. I book both refundable and non-refundable rooms depending. But I don't worry about the non-refundable rooms because over decades I've saved far more money on cheaper rates than lost on a couple of lost nights.

For personal travel, I normally book non-refundable. Emergency cancellations are (mainly) covered by my travel insurance.

But I don't worry about the non-refundable rooms because over decades I've saved far more money on cheaper rates than lost on a couple of lost nights.

I agree with both of the above comments. The only time I would book refundable tickets is if there is no extra charge (which actually was the case for probably two-thirds of my lodging this trip), or if the extra charge was negligible. Otherwise, I go with the lower cost and rely on travel insurance to cover it if needed. And as Hank noted, I've saved a lot more money with the lower cost hotel than anything lost on a nonrefundable room.

I've saved a lot more money with the lower cost hotel than anything lost on a nonrefundable room.

Same here.

Jean--I hope that pans out! Keep us posted:)

CWSocial, people need to “not travel” with us if they don’t want to have to change their plans for family weddings. LOL.

I realized I do tend to book nonrefundable transportation more often than hotels. Case in point is my first train ride next month in England. I bought a Saver fare as soon as it was available, only to realize yesterday I bought it for the wrong day…. Yep, non-refundable. But because I bought it early, it wasn’t much money. (Also, on the plus side, I was able to change the date and just pay the fare difference. Doubled the total price of my ticket, but that was because tickets were just more expensive yesterday than in February.)

I have also bought non-refundable non-cancellable airfare, usually because I, like Kim and her hotel risk assessment, was pretty sure I would be taking the flight - or I made a mistake. I will continue to do that for domestic airfare occasionally (I can now cancel for a credit instead of losing it) - but not international. I have insurance for any cancellations for medical reasons - but having to cancel everything for weddings woke me up a bit. Ha!

I realized I do tend to book nonrefundable transportation more often than hotels

Likewise, I often book nonrefundable trains. And always non-refundable ballet tickets ... no choice there! But I'm willing to take that gamble to get the seats I want. In 2020, surprisingly, I got refunds for 2 ballet tickets. Automatically!

TexasTravelMom, yes, sadly, weddings (and lots of other real life scenarios) aren't covered by insurance.

As such, airfare is a dilemna for me. Yes, I can get a credit if I cancel. But today (with United, my Denver monopoly carrier) the credit is for travel that begins within 1 year of purchase. (I think.) Well, by the time I buy the ticket (say) 6 or 8 months in advance, and I probably have another couple of trips already lined up, I don't have enough time window to use the credit. (I would be so happy to be corrected if I am wrong on this!)

So, I pay United's upcharge for a fully refundable fare and consider it my CFAR insurance for my biggest cost. Just within the last 2 years, I've had to change enough flights that it's worth it.

Ultimately, there is no right or wrong answer. People have to do whichever way they prefer.

Half of my hotel reservations for June and July have been booked, all non-refundable. Still coming up alternative places to stay for those few towns that stay unreserved , the so-called wing it places.

Jazz+Travels

Please accept my empathy for your situation. I was in your place last year. It's a tough place to be.

I had a trip scheduled to Bavaria. Although I had not paid much attention to refundable or non-refundable hotels in prior 40 years of travel, for this trip I booked refundable hotel rooms at four hotels. I carefully noted the "cancel by" dates. About a week before the earliest cancellation date approached I realized I need to cancel the trip. I contacted all four hotels. As it should be there was no problem with the cancellations. For me it was a wise decision as my Mom died just a few weeks later. I was her only child living in state and had been caring for her for 14 years. Her health had always been very fragile but she was on hospice and was experiencing pain control issues.

These are sometimes tough decisions and every situation is different. It may be too late for this information to be helpful to you, Jazz+Travels, but perhaps it may be helpful to others at some point.

I am taking the trip to Bavaria this autumn and have rebooked the same hotels at refundable rates.

I will be keeping you in my thoughts.

Traveler Girl

With hotels, always book direct with the hotel and nearly always book refundable. There are times when the room rates drop.

Same with airlines, but I use Delta miles so I can readily cancel. Again, the number of miles charged can drop.

With theater tickets and museum passes, I often book in advance, and the purchase is not refundable. But if the trip is cancelled, the cost is usually not considerable, and theater performances do sell out in advance.

Finally, with rail tickets, I often buy in advance through a train-service company. I know I pay extra, but I like the convenience, and there is some flexibility with changing dates and times.

If you buy the travel insurance soon enough after making your initial deposit for the trip you can get coverage that includes pre-existing conditions. You could use a credit card that includes travel insurance and see if they will insure the hotels. It does sound like your situation is getting more complex, which might make it helpful to have some layers of planning you didn't have in the past. I hope your loved one gets to do everything they planned. :)

cancel that to reset the expiration timer on the funds.

Tom_MN, thanks for pointing this out. I generally fly Southwest domestically, and often find myself with travel credits. Theirs work differently in that each credit is tracked by its code and it used to be that each code maintained its expiration date as it was booked and canceled and rebooked, over and over.

Ignoring the recent (2 years ago) change that Southwest credits no longer expire at all, I was mentally working under that model that every airline credit "remembers" its own expiration.

Thanks for the tip!