I find that Agoda often has good prices, sometimes even better than the hotel! It has frequent sales so it’s possible to get a good deal on a particular hotel if you keep watching.

I’ve booked my upcoming trip mostly with Agoda, some booking.com and a couple of direct reservations with the hotel.

I agree that Agoda sometimes has good prices but time of year will affect prices more than anything.

Appreciate this, Progol!

I’m sure you know, but for those who don’t, when booking 3rd party reservation sites, pay careful attention to 1) cancellation dates and 2) what’s included and what’s not. It’s easy to see a cheap rate and then discover you’ve booked the nonrefundable rate.

Despite the temptation of cheap rates, I always book places with cancellation and, as far out as possible.

I used Marriott points last year at the Westin Tokyo which was less expensive for me for 2 rooms for 5 days.

Yes, thankfully the ones I've explored have been explicit about cancellations and refunds. What threw me a bit, though, was seeing the option to "insure" the booking for an additional fee. Is that necessary? Do situations occur where guests with third-party reservations are turned away by hotels?

I haven't seen "opportunities" to insure a hotel booking, nor have I personally been turned away from a hotel for which I have a booking. Doesn't mean it can't happen, for example, if a hotel must close because of a fire or earthquake -- and in a case like that, it wouldn't matter how you booked (third party or direct).

Only you can decide whether the cost of the hotel is so high that you would want insurance to cover it, and if you decide to insure, you might want to make sure it's included in your overall trip insurance rather than taking out a separate coverage option.

Note that I don't believe that all booking sites are legit. I wonder -- would you please share the name of the booking site that is offering insurance to you?

With the need for insurance, well, just look right now at the typhoon that has been happening across all of southern Japan for the past several days, with all the corresponding cancellations for flights, trains, buses, and ferries. Nobody was able to travel anywhere.

Whether a hotel would give any refund due to weather events affecting travel is usually only the case if the ability to access the hotel is directly affected (such as if the hotel is located in the mountains and the only road going to the hotel has been closed or damaged). If trying to cancel on the day you were to arrive because the rail line you are planning to take to get there has been closed due to a typhoon, strong winds, heavy rain, or earthquake, yet the hotel itself is still otherwise open and accessible by car or taxi,, then you will probably not get a refund.

I booked my November Tokyo accommodations back in April, but I just did another search on booking.com and the Chase travel portal (which I use when advantageous to earn 10x points), and there were plenty of budget accommodations in Asakusa for $100-150 per night. That’s about what I paid in April (albeit for a hotel in a different part of town), so no, I’m not seeing that hotel prices have substantially risen recently.

The yen is slightly stronger against the dollar now than it was a few months ago, so that would account for a slight rise in prices (if you are looking at prices in $) but I’m not seeing exponential changes.

You have it a bit backwards. The hotel will have a room for you. The insurance is in the event of you being a no-show.

I don't book prepaid nonrefundable rates. IDK if the insurance would cover that kind of reservation.

The booking site or hotel site gives tells you what you might lose if you have to cancel or are a no-show. Might be that you pay for the first night of the reservation.

I book rooms where I can cancel the reservation for no charge if done 3 days or 1 day before planned arrival date. So, maybe I get injured taking my luggage to the car on departure day. It will be too late to cancel the first reservation n my itinerary without penalty but I can cancel any remaining reservations without a penalty, probably,

I don't pay for that kind of insurance. Maybe I have some coverage thourgh my credit card, idk. But all I stand to lose is the cost of the first night's stay, so I self insure. Haven't done that yet, so I saved money by not buying the insurance for dozens of trips.

YMMV

Here's the "protect your stay" page from expedia:

If you are interested in trip insurance -- and what you've posted sounds like that -- research your options at either insuremytrip.com or squaremouth.com. Each will should you various options and allow you to specify the coverage options you want.

I buy insurance as my health coverage abroad is limited and also for possible medical evacuation costs

That is travel insurance. You should follow the "Why" link and view the policy. You do not have to buy it, but if you are interested then you need to know what it covers and only you can decide if it is worth it.

I took a look and the policy would be through Travel Guard. Tried Hotel Gracery Sept 9 for one night and for 3 nights. The premium was higher for the longer stay. That tells me that I lose coverage after I check out of the hotel. I believe that it only covers a loss related to the hotel reservation and nothing else like the airfare booked separately. I could be wrong about this.

The hotel cancellation policy said I would be charged the first night's stay if I was a no-show or if I didn't cancel by midnight Japan Time on the 8th (which would be like 5PM my local time). If your $1100+ booking is pay now and nonrefundable then that would make the insurance more valuable. If you only stand to lose the first night's charge then not as valuable, though it does cover costs beyond the hotel during your stay.

Thing is, travel insurance can be bought for the entire trip. You specify you travel dates, choose your coverage, and you give a cost of your trip to include airfare, hotel, etc. So you have that $1100 booking but your entire trip might be $5000. I think that is how it works. Take a look at the links that kja gave.

Yes, and thank you, mrwunrfl. My primary concern, because we've never used a 3rd party booking service, was somehow being arbitrarily denied a room we'd booked. That doesn't sound like it would be the case. You and Wilk67 have provided us with a better understanding of trip insurance. We appreciate this..

YMMV indeed

I was wondering why that insurance is so inexpensive - it's just for one night...lol....

I always take out travel insurance for my whole trip which the older you are the more expensive it gets...but in my case, I once did need to use it when I slipped and broke my foot a number of years ago and had to go home since I couldn't walk...I call it my Japan weekend as the accident happened the second or third day...lol...

Sometimes I think I really don't need it as I think my secondary medical coverage might cover Japanese medical expenses but then again I usually stay in an airbnb and you pay up front so if something happens in the beginning of my stay I would lose a lot....

I think the reasons for getting trip insurance may differ as much as the people who purchase it! I get it for several reasons, including:

• In case I need to cancel or interrupt my trip because of a relative's health. (I have a number of elderly relatives.)
• For medical evacuation in the event of a major injury or illness (as Mara mentioned);
• For some trips, in case I need to cancel or interrupt my trip because of a natural disaster.

I generally opt to cover only the cost of my flights, because I'm willing to "eat" the cost of any hotel reservations I can't cancel in a timely way. (I think mrwunrfl said something similar.) But then (a) I only book lodgings that can be fully cancelled until close to the time of my planned stay and (b) I don't book particularly costly lodgings. For an upcoming trip (not to Japan), I opted to cover the costs for the flight and the cost of a car and driver for several days because that cost is not inconsequential by my standards and because the date for cancelling for a full refund is far enough in advance that I wanted additional assurance that I would be reimbursed if I did have to forego that experience.

Again, I encourage you to consult insuremytrip.com and/or squaremouth.com. The policy or policies that seem to best suit my particular needs for any trip have been from different companies (issuers) from trip to trip -- no one company has best met my needs.

that nsurance quote was $36.38 for an $1164.16 stay

Saw that expedia had a pay now option but it is refundable up to day before arrival. Have seen that elsewhere. It locks in the currrent exchange rate.

So? Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I don't think we know what the OP wants or needs by way of coverage. It might be a good price for what's covered, it might not. It might be great or lousy, or cover the things that matter to the OP or not.... Only comparing policies for one's particular needs for a particular trip can indicate whether a policy is "good" for one's needs or not.

BTW, RandZ, I'm sorry if my post # 18 seemed harsh or insensitive -- I meant that I was more interested in focusing on the future than the past.

>> ,So?
So I laid out the quote for Mara who may have been thinking it was for one night. Given the price I think it is for multiple nights. But if the OP is a no-show then they may be on the hook only for the first night, unless it is pre-paid non-refundable.

Also, I simply pointed out something interesting that I found at expedia. That was they offered a refundable pay-in-advance optkion.