.
Most travel reservation confirmations and cancellations are accurate and arrive promptly. But here are a few reasons to double check your confirmations, including cancellation confirmations, and to always get an agreed-upon request or benefits documented in writing:
1. Make Sure You Get a Cancellation Confirmation
While it's easy to fire off an email to the hotel reservations department asking to cancel a reservation or leave a message on an answering machine, don't consider your reservation cancelled until you receive a written cancellation confirmation, otherwise you may be in for a rude surprise: a 1 night (or more) no show penalty, or not getting back a deposit if one was taken at the time of booking.
.
2. Confirm the Deposit and Cancellation Details
Always check to be sure the confirmation you receive has the same deposit and cancellation policies that you agreed to when making the reservation. Sometimes the email is coded incorrectly and the policies in the confirmation are different, which you want to clarify immediately, rather than discover too late, when you need to cancel but realize that the written cancellation policy is different and stricter than the one you remember agreeing to. Another situation we've come across is that a hotel may make its cancellation policy more stringent after you book; you definitely want evidence of the more flexible policy you booked under.
.
3. Double Check Other Details: Room or Suite Type, Dates, Extra Bed Cost, Etc.
While perhaps not as alarming as different deposit/cancellation policies, other reservation details are also critical to double check, to ensure you're confirmed for the room or suite you thought you booked, for the correct dates (on a few occasions, these have been incorrect, and only caught when we double checked client confirmation emails), the extra bed cost is what you were told, etc.
.
4. Ensure your Preferred Partner or Virtuoso Benefits
All our clients, and hopefully most TravelSort readers, are aware that by booking with us, they obtain perks and priority not obtainable if they were to book directly with the hotel. Hotels almost always code these directly when a preferred partner or Virtuoso advisor makes the reservation, although the benefits aren't always enumerated in the confirmation email, which can be automatically generated. When this is the case, we always request either a custom confirmation or a simple email from our Reservations contact that confirms the benefits. That way, even if you, as the client, checks in with a new staff member at Reception who isn't aware of the benefits, there's a written confirmation of everything you're entitled to.
.
5. Reconfirm a Confirmed Upgrade
A few luxury hotel programs, as well as select Four Seasons Preferred Partner exclusive offers, confirm an upgrade at time of booking. In our experience, this is usually able to be reflected in an updated confirmation, but even if the hotel maintains that the auto-generated confirmation will remain the same, as it will reflect the room or suite rate originally booked, we always request an email that confirms the confirmed upgrade.
.
6. Confirm Transfer, Dinner, Spa, Activity Reservations and Date/Time
While many transfer, dinner, spa, and activity reservations are made by our clients directly, sometimes by phone, we again recommend getting a written confirmation, even if it's a short email from someone on the Concierge Team, that shows the restaurant, spa, or activity, the date and time, the number of guests it's for, cancellation policy, and for transfer, spa, and activity reservations, the cost. While we're all for serendipity and pleasant surprises, unexpected mixups and misunderstandings are the opposite of what a vacation is supposed to be about.
.
Recommended Posts
PSA: Don’t Assume Hotel Free Night Offers are Refundable
PSA: Reserve the Hotel Room or Suite You Want to Stay In
PSA: Check Cruise, Hotel Deposit Rules Before Booking
If you enjoyed this, join 200,000+ readers: follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.
Subscribe to TravelSort on YouTube for travel inspiration.
Become a TravelSort Client and Book 5-Star Hotels with Virtuoso or Four Seasons Preferred Partner Benefits