Tl;dr – You’re all set to depart for your trip in a few days but have you ‘re-shopped’ your room rate one last time?
This is a general-purpose PSA from your neighborhood-friendly Blackbeard, reminding you to check your hotel room rate one last time as your check-in date approaches.
If you’re like me and prefer to book the member’s flexible rate when making an initial reservation, deferring payment until you’re sure you’re going on the trip, then you should also do yourself a favor and shop your rate one last time before your trip. Why? The obvious reason is that the rate may have changed. If it’s gone down, then you can rebook it at a lower rate. Another reason would be to take advantage of a lower advance pay rate, now that your plans have solidified. This rate usually has a firm no-cancellation policy, but if you are indeed going on this trip, it could be worthwhile to switch.
There’s also room type. Since you made your initial reservation, there could have been any number of guest cancellations, or the hotel might have opened more rooms, making a more preferable room type available. I say ‘preferable’ to acknowledge that a new room type could be more expensive but a better fit (if you were hoping for a more spacious deluxe room or suite, and one becomes available), or a cheaper room that better aligns with your now hopefully more concrete itinerary. I recently had an experience with the latter.
Earlier today, I logged on to Marriott to re-shop my upcoming reservation at the Schloss Lieser, an Autograph Collection Hotel.
As this hotel is situated right in the heart of the Moselle, I planned to use it as my base camp for exploring the wondrous German wine region. I initially booked a river view room, thinking I’d enjoy more time at the hotel looking out at the scenery. As my plans solidified, I realized I wouldn’t be spending too much actual time in the hotel room – instead, I’ll be out hiking and tasting, so the base-level room would suffice. When I initially made the reservation, there wasn’t a base room available, but fortunately, one became available today.
As the difference between these two room rates was € 239.22 = $280.49 (at the time of writing), I consider the switch well worth it.
To make matters even better, I was able to reattach the nightly upgrade request I had on my prior reservation, meaning that if things work out in my favor and my upgrade is confirmed, I’ll end up with the same elevated room type at the base-level room’s cost.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve saved a few bucks by rechecking the rate on the same room. If you’re within the cancellation window and know you’re going, you can often save a few dollars by switching to the advance pay rate.
