Booking non cancellable accomodation is almost always the cheapest available option given. This option however cheap, is fraught with danger especially when booking a few months in advance or longer. Instead of booking a non cancelable rate, we like to do the following in an attempt to ensure we are getting the cheapest possible rate without giving up our option to change if things don’t go to plan.
If booking more than a month out, always booking a free cancellation rate
Most hotels will generally offer at least a rate with free cancellation and a cheaper option that is non refundable. While the non cancellable offer will end up being cheaper, if you are booking a couple of months out you risk losing all your accomodation costs if something pops up and you need to cancel your trip. It may seem like a certainty at the time of booking but as we have seen in the past couple of years, the world is anything but certain.
The exception is making a booking in extremely high demand periods such as over Christmas, NYE & Easter. During these periods, things are a little different given generally booking as early is possible is cheaper and if you wait until closer to the date there is a strong chance things would have been booked out.
If booking a month or less from time of travel, you may wish to consider a non cancelable rate
If you are certain your plans will not change and have the money ready, often you will get the best rate without free cancelation. You could possibly book this type of rate alongside travel insurance (ideally you will have this included with your credit card features).
Our strategy
Given we usually plan our trips 6 months+ in advance, we always opt for a free cancellation option. It is not only encase our plans change but it also offers best rate guarantee. We recently we on a trip to Cairns in North QLD and booked a cancellable rate 6 months prior to travel. We continued to monitor the rates every now and then and about 1 week prior to travelling noticed the price of the same room for the same dates had dropped by a couple of hundred dollars. It may have had something to do with lack of demand or something but by having that cancellation policy, I could have cancelled my exisiting booking and rebooked at a cheaper rate. Instead, I called up the hotel, mentioned the price difference and asked if the current rate I booked at was the best they could offer. By asking this question instead of ‘can you match this rate I saw on your website’ it gives you the chance to get an even further discount which is what happened. The hotel said they could offer me an even cheaper rate than what I found originally. This wouldn’t have happened if I booked it initially on the non refundable rate…
You can always book refundable rate & then closer to travel book the non refundable rate
Similar to the story above, initially booking the free cancellation rate you could then book a non refundable rate at the last moment it is offered if that is the best price. Most hotels require you to book at least 30 days prior to lock in the non refundable rate. If you travels are certain 30 days out, it could be a worthwhile option to cancel your free cancellation rate and change to a non refundable option locking in the cheaper rate. Even better would be picking up the phone and talking to the hotel staff to see if this is the best rate they can offer you too!
