Hilton has begun trialing a new stricter cancelation policy at 24 of its hotels, imposing a $50 cancelation fee anytime after a booking is made.
Introduced last month, the policy is applicable for all new bookings but Hilton Hhonors members will be exempt from the new fee.
The fee will be charged regardless of when a cancelation request is made, however it will impose its existing rule of charging for a one-night stay plus tax if a guest cancels on the day of scheduled arrival.
Hilton brought in the one-day deadline for cancelations early this year and rival Marriott also implemented a similar policy.
"It’s not because we are seeing any short-term cancellation activities that’s outside of what we’ve been seeing. Obviously with all these new technologies and things over the last couple of years, there has been lots of different sort of ways people are trying to game all our systems with cancel and rebook," said Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta.
"With record occupancies, many rooms are being held, then not used, meaning other customers who want those rooms cannot book them. This is problematic for our customers because they do not always get access to rooms they want, because they are being held but are ultimately cancelled," added Chris Silcock, chief commercial officer, Hilton Worldwide.
There are a number of new apps like DreamCheaper and TripRebel which offers to cancel and rebook a room if the price subsequently drops at a later time.
