Effective immediately IHG has changed their cancellation policy for hotels in the United States (this applies to new bookings only, existing bookings are not affected). You now must cancel your reservation at least 24 hours before your stay to avoid a penalty. Previously guests were able to cancel as late as 6PM on the day of the start of their stay. This new IHG policy had already been implemented in Europe and IHG is in the process of rolling it out world wide. This also follows on from changes by both Hilton & Marriott to their cancellation policies:
- Hilton To Change Cancellation Policy To 48-72 Hours (From 24 Hours)
- You Now Have To Cancel Your Starwood/Marriott Reservations Two Days Before Check In
IHG’s policy is still more generous than both of those chains.
Hat tip to The Gate
I just had a booking in Orlando (rev) and they had a 72 hour cancellation policy. It seems to vary by location.
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http://www.dealsatx.com
I’m not sure how “new” a policy this is. Looking at my emails, I found a Pointbreak reservation which stated it must be canceled the day before check in (this was made April 28) and one which required a three night minimum advance cancellation (this was made April 5). Looking further back I found reservations which required 24 or 48 hour cancellation for points reservations, and even one for cash, as far back as 2014. So this may be a case where IHG is imposing a uniform policy where some hotels were doing it on an ad-hoc basis.
For example:
Number of Rooms: 1
Room Type: 1 QUEEN STUDIO SUITE NONSMOKING
Rate Type: State Government-US
Number of Guests: 1 adult(s)
Check-In: Mon 14 Jul 2014 03:00 PM
Check-Out: Wed 16 Jul 2014 12:00 PM
Rate Description: STATE PER DIEM ONLY AVAILABLE FOR STUDIO SUITES. STATE ID REQUIRED AT CHECK IN. RATES ARE BASED ON LENGTH OF STAY. CHANGES OR EARLY DEPARTURE WILL RESULT IN AN INCREASE TO THE BEST AVAILABLE RATE.
Smoking Preference: Nonsmoking
Early Departure Fee: $0.75 (USD)
Cancellation Policy: Canceling your reservation before 6:00 PM (local hotel time) on Sunday, 13 July, 2014 will result in no charge. Canceling your reservation after 6:00 PM (local hotel time) on 13 July, 2014, or failing to show, will result in a charge equal to the first night’s stay per room to your credit card. Taxes may apply. Failing to call or show before check-out time after the first night of a reservation will result in cancellation of the remainder of your reservation.
My work travel is erratic (project demands often change last minute) rather than defaulting to IHG in advance, i guess I will just do more same day reservations.
Cancelling within 24 hrs is NO CHANGE is it?
If you miss this cancellation window, can you change your reservation inside of 24 hours of your reservation to a later date and then cancel?
“Within” makes it sound like you have to cancel on the day of your arrival vs something like “prior to”
concur, title and text need an edit and rewrite. Wildly confusing as written. Knowing what William meant….. well, that’s nice, but not everyone will be able to guess.
Curious how William is ignoring our friendly observations. Say Doc, what’s up? Do we need to be a little more blunt? This isn’t “British” english. It’s just wrong, as written.
I’m not on the blog 24/7. I’ve updated it now when I have had a chance.
should read “at least 24 hours before stay” right?
I agree.
Updated title