Rebook your IHG and Hilton rooms NOW – both chains will refund cheaper ‘Advance Purchase’ rates

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Both IHG Rewards Club and Hilton Honors have made positive announcements about removing the restrictions on Advance Purchase bookings.

This means there are unintended consequences:

if you have a Hilton or IHG hotel booking made at the Best Flexible rate, it makes sense to cancel it and rebook a cheaper Advance Purchase rate – because the Advance Purchase rate is now fully refundable!

if you have a Hilton or IHG hotel booking made at the Advance Purchase rate, you should check it – you could save money by cancelling and rebooking it if rates have fallen

Before you do this – because I don’t want to take the blame if anything goes wrong! – please carefully read:

the IHG policy on refunding Advance Purchase bookings here

the Hilton policy on refunding Advance Purchase bookings here

What is the new IHG policy on refunding Advance Purchase rooms?

IHG has said that it will waive cancellation fees on Advance Purchase bookings for stays up to 30th April.

The rule applies to both new and existing bookings.

Positively, IHG has said that this policy will also apply if you booked via an online travel agent such as Expedia or Booking.com. However, you will need to contact the agent to discuss your cancellation rather than choosing the online cancellation option, as this is likely to trigger the existing ‘no refund’ rules.

If you have an existing IHG booking before 30th April at a flexible rate, or where the rate has fallen sharply since you booked an Advance Purchase rate, I recommend cancelling and rebooking at an Advance Purchase rate.

Please double-check the official IHG travel advisory notice, which is here, before taking action.

IHG is also reducing the elite status criteria for 2021

IHG Rewards Club is lowering the criteria for earning or renewing your status for 2021.

Take a look at this chart (click here to see the original):

Spire Elite is cut from 75,000 base points to 55,000 base points, or from 75 nights to 55 nights.

Hilton policy on refunding Advance Purchase rooms

What is the new Hilton policy on refunding Advance Purchase rooms?

Hilton has said that it will waive cancellation fees on EXISTING Advance Purchase bookings for stays up to 30th April.

For NEW bookings, the wording implies that Advance Purchase bookings made by 30th April for ANY future date will be fully refundable.

The only requirement is that you cancel 24 hours before arrival.

Hilton has NOT said if this policy applies to bookings made via other channels such as Expedia.

If you have an existing Hilton booking at a flexible rate, or where the rate has fallen sharply since you booked an Advance Purchase rate, I recommend cancelling and rebooking at an Advance Purchase rate.

Please double-check the official Hilton travel advisory notice, which is here, before taking action.

Hilton has also said that it is working on a policy to deal with status expiry although it is not yet finalised. In the interim, all points expiry will be curtailed until 31st May.

Remember that Hilton is still offering a status match – this HFP article explains how.

Before you ask, there is no similar news yet from Marriott. The only waiver on offer is only valid to 31st March and only covers the following countries: Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, French Polynesia, Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Samoa, Italy. You can find out more on marriott.com.

IHG Rewards update – December 2021:

Get bonus points: You can earn up to triple IHG Rewards base points with IHG’s new Autumn promotion. It runs from 1st October to 31st December. You can register here and our full article on the offer is here.

New to IHG Rewards? Read our overview of IHG Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG Rewards points worth?’ is here.

Buy points: If you need additional IHG Rewards points, you can buy them here.

You will get a 100% bonus when you buy IHG Rewards points by 4th January 2022. Click here to buy or learn more.

Want to earn more hotel points? Click here to see our complete list of promotions from IHG and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Category

Hilton Honors, IHG Rewards

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

James says:

13 Mar13 March 05:59

There seems to be a catch with Hilton. The waivers for advance purchase bookings only apply to countries with >>

“ Government Restrictions. In regions affected by government-issued travel restrictions, we will continue to waive change fees or offer full refunds. Please see below for the latest information on region specific travel waivers.”

I completed the online form and this morning received this reply. Thankfully they’ve made an exception as I’m diamond but it would seem this is not a case of **any** advance purchase booking becoming refundable >>

“Thank you for contacting us in regards to the request of cancellation of your future reservation with us.

We understood your concern and the well-being of our guests & team members is always our highest priority. We remain diligent in our commitment to provide a safe, hospitable environment for all who visit our properties.
Hilton continues to closely monitor the situation and have issued a global travel waiver as below:-

• For guests whose travel plans are being affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with flights to, from and through China, South Korea or Italy, modification and cancellation penalties may be waived for stays with arrivals Thursday, January 23, through Tuesday, March 31, regardless of travel destination.
• The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has put travel restrictions in place due to the spread of the novel coronavirus in Europe and the Middle East. These restrictions prevent many guests from entering the country. For guests whose travel plans are being affected by these restrictions with flights to, from and through Saudi Arabia, modification and cancellation penalties may be waived for stays with arrivals Thursday, February 27 through Tuesday, March 31, regardless of travel destination.
• For guests whose travel plans are being affected by the coronavirus with travel to, from or through Italy, modification and cancellation penalties may be waived for stays with arrivals Monday, February 24, through Thursday, April 30, regardless of travel destination.
• For guests whose travel plans are being affected by the coronavirus with travel to, from or through Israel, modification and cancellation penalties may be waived for stays with arrivals today, Tuesday, March 10, through Tuesday, March 31, regardless of travel destination.
Should you be taking flights to, from and through China, South Korea or Italy, Saudi Arabia, you may revert your flight details to us so we may waive off the cancellation fee.

Otherwise, as you have booked on a prepaid rate which is a discounted rate, part of the terms and conditions of this rate is that there will be no refund in the case of any cancellation or amendment.

Therefore, should you wish to cancel your reservation, the full pre-paid amount will be forfeited.

But as you are our valued Hilton Honors Diamond member. We are able to make a one-time exception to hold your credit and utilize the total amount of SG$361.93 for any future bookings in Hilton Singapore by 31 Dec 2020. Kindly do let us know if we can cancel this booking and we will proceed to hold the money for your future stay.

Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at Singapore_Reservations@hilton.com”
- meta says:
  
  13 Mar13 March 06:15
  
  Might be relevant to you, but there are new travel restrictions for Singapore from Sunday, if you’ve been to France, Germany or Spain recently.
- Zac says:
  
  13 Mar13 March 06:45
  
  I cancelled a stay in Helsinki for next week. No quibbles, no questions asked.
- James says:
  
  13 Mar13 March 08:39
  
  All sorted 🙂
  
  Warm greetings from Hilton Singapore.
  
  With the most updated information of the cancellation policy released on today, we will proceed to cancel the reservation and refund the full amount.
  
  Please kindly note that the refund might take 7 to 14 working days. A cancellation confirmation email has been sent to your registered mail attached with your Hilton Honors profile.
  
  Should there be any further assistance you might require, please do feel free to contact us.
  
  We hope we may welcome you to our property in the short coming future.
Nat says:

13 Mar13 March 07:32

While I agree with the logic and “opportunity”, there’s a bit of a question of whether it’s good form to game the situation isn’t there? Don’t expect everyone to agree (and that’s cool) but I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that, given the circumstances, anyways!
- Ron says:
  
  13 Mar13 March 07:34
  
  Yeah that’s my thinking too. The changes are made so that people aren’t disadvantaged and can cancel with a refund.
  It doesn’t sit well with me to cancel flexible rates and rebook just because IHG have actually done a positive thing for its customers.
  - Roy says:
    
    13 Mar13 March 20:51
    
    Maybe, but that one night Holiday Inn stay for a trip that you were 90%+ expecting to make. The one that you were on the fence as to whether or not to pay the extra for the flexible rate, or just eat the cost if the trip doesn’t go ahead.
    
    It will probably sway most people’s decision there ..
- sayling says:
  
  13 Mar13 March 07:35
  
  Tentatively agree…
- Crafty says:
  
  13 Mar13 March 08:08
  
  Agreed, I’m all for the opportunities identified here usually, but this seems in incredibly bad taste.
- Martin Weaver says:
  
  13 Mar13 March 08:29
  
  Agreed – I won’t consider this for a London booking I have coming up. Think it should be used only when you are actually looking to cancel.
Daniel Harris says:

13 Mar13 March 07:45

Nothing from Marriott. Poor form.
ee says:

13 Mar13 March 08:02

I had a ‘prepaid’ Hilton reservation for check in yesterday at a European property. I say ‘prepaid’ because the rate was prepayable but the hotel never took the funds.

On Wed night we decided due to corona not to travel, but there was no option to cancel the reservation online.

Contacting the hotel directly yesterday, they cancelled without quibble.

Obviously the cancellation was within 24 hours of arrival, but checking my credit card there is still no authorisation of funds showing.

Does anyone have any experience of when Hilton would typically charge non shows on prepaid rates? The reservation disappear from my account immediately after the hotel cancelled the booking.
Anon says:

13 Mar13 March 09:48

What about when you booked using your Ambassador or Credit Card free night?
- Anon says:
  
  13 Mar13 March 09:50
  
  As in the Ambassador free night is valid on the second night of a paid weekend stay on the Ambassador Weekend Rate.
  
  So there is no benefit to cancelling this and trying to rebook as it works on a different rate code?
JohnE says:

13 Mar13 March 10:54

Hyatt is doing something slightly different, presumably to limit the kind of arbitrage that some other commenters in this thread are not thrilled by. Hyatt is allowing non-refundable Advance Purchase Rate bookings to be traded for 10,000 World of Hyatt points (it seems irrespective of value of the booking, which feels pretty nominal if you actually want to/have to cancel). https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/info/coronavirus-statement
Zac says:

13 Mar13 March 12:06

I don’t understand what the big problem is with rebooking a hotel. Many other chains (hotels.com is one) price match any competitor up to the day before arrival. The likes of Hilton should be looking to match these sorts of price guarantees from the rubbish 24 hours only that you get to price match. Especially for Gold/Diamonds.
The money is better in your pocket than theirs!
Paul Hickey says:

13 Mar13 March 15:09

Anyone know what Shangri-LA’s policy is. Booked and pre-paid for 3 rooms in Abu Dhabi for a week in April.

Also, BA have changed our LBA-LHR flight to the day after our LHR-ABU Dhabi flight departs….
So we have the option to cancel but my question is, how long does this option last?

Thanks for help!