Staying at a Hotel with a Rate Change During the Stay? Sometimes the rate for all nights will be at the higher rate, based on your first night, even though if you booked the nights (or a subset of the nights) separately, you'd pay less. Just to be clear, it's normal of course for a given room or suite to have a rate change during a stay, depending on seasonality, weekday/weekend and demand issues. What I'm talking about is whether you're charged more or not for a given night based on when your stay starts.
Here are some examples, followed by tips for what to do to save money and time.
Example 1: Hilton Moorea Rate Change: Charged the Highest Rate Based on the First Night
The Hilton Moorea charges XPF 76,380 per night for a King Overwater Bungalow for October 27-31, 2015, and XPF 68,400 per night starting November 1, 2015. Here's the rate for an 8 day stay in November:
What happens if you book October 31-November 8? You might think you'd just be charged the higher rate of XPF 76,380 for the night of October 31, and XPF 68,400 for the other 7 nights. You would be wrong: instead, you'd be charged the higher XPF 76,380 rate for ALL 8 nights. That's over $550 more than the same 8 night stay in November, due to the higher rate being charged all 8 nights, instead of just for the first night of Oct. 31.
Example 2: Four Seasons Bora Bora: Rate Change Does Not Affect Subsequent Nights of the Stay
Here's another example from French Polynesia, from nearby Bora Bora. The Four Seasons Bora Bora, which I highlighted in Top 10 Four Seasons 3rd Night Free and 4th Night Free Offers with Preferred Partner Benefits, is offering a 4th night free offer on many dates until April 2016. It also has a rate change, with lower rates starting November 1. Unlike the Hilton Moorea, this is taken into account when booking a stay spanning October and November dates. So in this case, there's no need to book your November dates separately from your October dates.
Example 3: Four Seasons Silicon Valley: Charged a Higher Rate and Room Type Not Offered for Shorter Stay
There are, however, cases even with Four Seasons where you'll want to check for rate changes during your stay. For example, at the Four Seasons Silicon Valley in East Palo Alto, weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights) are usually cheaper and weekday rates can be high or even sold out. Here's the lower weekend rate for August 7-10, 2015:
That leads to this situation, where the hotel is willing to book you in a Superior King Room for all night of your stay IF you start your stay on the weekend, albeit for a higher price for those weekend nights than you would pay if booking only weekend nights. Here's the same stay as above, except checking out two days later on August 12, 2015. Note that now all nights are at $625 + tax per night; the weekend nights are not priced lower.
But, if you decide to take advantage of lower weekend rates and reserve Friday, Saturday and Sunday night separately, you'll find that the hotel has no Superior rooms available for Monday and Tuesday night. You would have to book a higher category Deluxe Room, changing rooms in the process (unless you're upgraded to a Deluxe Room for your weekend nights, which is definitely possible with Four Seasons Preferred Partner benefits, based on availability at check-in).
Hotel Rate Change During Stay Tips
Here are a few tips to ensure you're not overpaying due to a hotel rate change during your stay:
1. Check to See if There is a Rate Change
While you probably already look at the price per night or price breakdown by day before booking a room or suite, prior to booking you should also check whether smaller stay increments change the rate or the room availability. You might first try one day at a time, then 2-3 days together, etc.
2. If You're Charged More for the Entire Reservation, Split Up the Reservation
If in the course of checking for a rate change you find a significant one, then you'll likely want to split up the reservation. I personally wouldn't bother for just a few dollars, but for $40-50 or more in savings–sure.
3. Make Sure to Book the Same Room or Suite Type if You Don't Want to Move Rooms
If you are splitting up your reservation in order to obtain lower rates and don't want to change rooms midway through your stay, be sure to book the same room type for both stays.
4. Have Hotel Note Your Back to Back Reservations
After you book, call the hotel or have your travel advisor call the hotel and ask for the reservations to be linked or noted as back to back reservations. You could also try calling the hotel after making the first reservation at the lower rate and see if it's possible to add the additional nights on to the existing reservation, but often the system will prevent the agent from doing this, so you'll still end up with two back to back reservations.
5. At Check-In, Remind the Front Desk that You Have Back to Back Reservations
Don't forget at check-in to remind the front desk that you have two back to back reservations, and ask them to keep you in the same room so that you don't have to check-out and check back in.
What has your experience been with hotel rate changes during your stay?
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