Hilton, IHG tighten booking cancellation policy

Hilton and IHG are following Marriott-Starwood in tightening the rules over booking cancellations in a growing trend to disallow same-day notice when guests cancel their reservation.

Hilton-owned properties will this week begin enforcing a new cancellation policy which will see travellers required to give at least two days' notice to cancel their booking in order to receive a full refund.

Licensed Hilton properties managed by independent companies can also decide if they adopt the new policy.

IHG hotels – including the Intercontinental and Hotel Indigo brands – is also dropping its same-day notice policy, and will now require 24 hours' notice.

Both hotel groups appear to be taking their lead from Marriott's move last month to a minimum 48-hour cancellation policy to qualify for a full refund, instead of its previous rule of giving 24 hours' notice.

This applies to Marriott and Starwood brands including Ritz-Carlton, W Hotels and Sheraton.

Marriott said that the 24-hour cancellation window meant hotels were “faced with a significant number of unsold rooms due to last minute cancellations. The revised policy allows us to make rooms available to guests that would have otherwise gone unoccupied due to a last-minute cancellation."

However, some Marriott properties have imposed even stricter cancellation periods as long as  72 hours.

The revised cancellation policy took effect on June 15 and applies to reservations made on or after that date. Reservations made prior can still be cancelled within 24 hours without incurring a charge.

Hilton and Hyatt hotels already require 48 hours notice or longer for cancelling a reservation without penalty.

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.