A few weeks ago, I made a reservation at a Doubletree in Indiana. This morning, I found myself in an unexpectedly intriguing situation as I tried to cancel it.
You can earn Hilton Diamond status with the Hilton Honors Aspire American Express Card, but I generally prefer Marriott and Hyatt for my hotel stays due to their better advertised benefits.
This weekend coincides with a Big Ten football game, causing the rates to soar to an outrageous $687 per night, plus tax. Meanwhile, redeeming 45,000 points would provide over 1.5 cents per point in value, which is outstanding for Hilton, as their points typically average around 0.5 cents or less.
Due to this special event, the cancellation policy required a notice one week in advance—specifically by Friday at 11:59 PM. I called the following Saturday morning at 7 AM, which meant I was just a few hours past the deadline.
According to Hilton’s policies:
No-shows or cancellations of Reward Stay Reservations outside of the individual cancellation policy timeframe will incur a charge of one night’s room rate and tax at the hotel’s Best Available Rate for that date.
As mentioned, the room rate was $687 plus tax—a truly exorbitant sum for the quality of the accommodations.
Hilton Hotel Rate
Typically, I don’t face issues when canceling reservations after the deadline. With Hyatt and Marriott, modifying a points reservation online isn’t possible, but phone agents tend to have more flexibility. In contrast, with Hilton, both online modifications and cancellations appear to be off the table. The first agent I talked to told me there was nothing that could be done. After contacting the hotel, a Diamond desk agent informed me I would need to wait until Sunday for a manager’s approval to cancel without a penalty.
It’s worth noting that I wasn’t specifically looking to cancel, but rather to reschedule my dates (i.e., modify my reservation), which usually has very few restrictions for cash bookings.
I believe that had I escalated to a higher-level manager, I could have effectively communicated that reselling the room at a cash rate would probably generate more revenue than honoring my points redemption.
Partially, my confusion stemmed from my busy schedule. I only realized I missed the cancellation deadline last night upon receiving a reminder email about my upcoming stay. Typically, hotel cancellation periods are 24 to 48 hours, so I didn’t pay much attention when I booked. I was aware that the deadline was extended due to the Big Ten football game, but it’s just a Doubletree in suburban Indiana.
The first call this morning was quite frustrating. I spent over 40 minutes with an agent who was trying to assist me. While I appreciated her efforts, the final outcome is crucial in these situations.
After verifying the cancellation policy, she reiterated that there was no way to modify or cancel the reservation. I asked her to contact the property directly to see if someone could waive the penalty. After a significant time on hold, she returned to inform me that a manager wouldn’t be available until Sunday.
This response came after I explored every possible option to modify or temporarily recover my points through cancellation, or to see if the hotel could shift the reservation (which is generally tricky with points reservations due to the risk of being left with an unsold room).
In my opinion, modifying a reservation six days before check-in while keeping both the room type and redemption amount the same shouldn’t be an overly complicated request, especially since I was changing to a period when rates drop significantly.
I’m very grateful that I decided to give it another try. The second agent I spoke with managed to resolve my issue within just ten minutes.
For some reason, I instructed her to attempt the same steps that led to the first agent’s unhelpful results, specifically checking if the rate could be modified without direct involvement from the property. When she contacted the front desk again, a different staff member—a likely non-manager—was able to facilitate the process, resulting in my points being refunded right away.
What I want to investigate is whether the hotel agent could have automatically canceled the reservation in their system and just needed upper management approval to do so. I suspect this is true because the second call was much shorter, but I can’t be sure due to the notes on the reservation.
After my first call, I came up with several backup plans in case the situation didn’t improve. I could have waited for the manager’s response on Sunday, though I was eager to resolve it without having to think about it for an additional day.
Initially, I would have attempted to cancel the reservation to see what transpires. In a worst-case scenario, I could restore the booking later. Additionally, I could have asked if they could shorten my stay by a night.
Ultimately, I would have escalated a case with customer care, as there are no terms indicating a penalty for modifications, which has been the case for nearly every refundable reservation I’ve made over the last decade.
Often, front-line agents have limited flexibility to go beyond standard procedures, so this was certainly a worthwhile investment of my time. I also gained a valuable lesson, which is rare for me today.
In the end, keeping my reservation and achieving a redemption value of 1.5 cents per point isn’t so bad, despite it being at a Doubletree.
There are two important takeaways from this experience. Firstly, it’s crucial to hang up and call back if you aren’t satisfied, as this sort of inquiry often involves multiple variables. Secondly, staying organized with your reservations requires attention and diligence.
Now, my next step is to call yet again to extend the expiration of my free night certificates…
Information as of October 29, 2022.
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