Hi
I've booked a room at the Bonaparte for December and find that they've actually charged my credit card now. They haven't just put a hold on that amount of credit, my account has been charged.
Is this standard practice?
It's not that much money, but I find this annoying, especially since it wasn't mentioned in advance.

Hi elaine,

Yes, that is the standard practice.

Did you book over the phone or by FAX?

When they send you a FAX it says that thy will charge you for one night upon confirmation.

If the clerk didn't tell you, he should have. The clerk told me that when I booked last May.

Did you ask how late you could cancel without penalty?

Hi
I did it by fax, they asked for my credit card info as many places do,but I don't see any indication that the charge would go through now.
Cancellation policy is 72 hours prior.
I'm holding another reservation elsewhere as well, will decide soon.
thanks

The hotel should have disclosed that one night's deposit will be charged. I find that very annoying also. I know other hotels have mentioned that they'll charge one night's deposit as December is a busy month towards the holiday period. But if the Bonaparte charges your c/c as a standard practice that's fine as long as it's disclosed beforehand.

I just booked rooms for November at Hotel Bonaparte (per Ira's recommendations). I called first and then faxed my credit card information. The very nice woman I spoke with explained that I would be charged for one night and made sure that I responded that I authorized the charge. The charge was stated on the faxed receipt as was the cancellation policy.

Not sure if this standard practice since it is my first trip to Paris.

I think Elaine was asking if it is standard practice for this hotel to do that? It's def. not std. practice for other Parisian hotels, I've never had one do that to me.

I don't quite understand why they are doing that and what the logic is -- if they have a cancellation policy and you violate it, why don't they just then charge the daily charge when that happens, not four months ahead. This way, if you do cancel, they will have the labor of refunding the money (and I would think some transaction cost somewhere), and they also had the labor of putting through the charge in the first place.

I don't understand this as a hotel practice, if they are just operating so close to the margin that they want the interest on your money for that time or they are counting on some people forgetting to try to get it back if they cancel in time, or what.

I think this is a sound policy and will eliminate the people who tend to book several hotels until they make up their minds, canceling the rest at the last minute. This has to be very frustrating for hotels in Paris and I'm surprised that more don't require the deposit!

Someone is quite likely to lose money on such a charge, should he or she cancel. For example, if your VISA charges 2% and you cancel and get a credit, you will end up losing 4%, not to mention any possible exchange rate losses. I recently went through this when a hotel mistakenly charged me and then issued back a credit. Fortunately since it was the hotel's mistake, they compensated me for the loss.

That's interesting -- they can't just reverse the charge (I mean, cancel)?

Anyway, I'd avoid hotels that would charge me prior to my staying there. These days I even prefer to deal with hotels that have electronic bookings or work with e-mail. I'm only willing to make exceptions if I think that I want to save money or if the hotel is really exceptional. There's so much competition and since I'm not wedded to any particular hotel, I just move on if I foresee too much hassle.

111op, say the charge is 120 Euros.
The 120 Euros is converted to dollars at the day's interbank rate and 2% (or whatever your card's rate) is added. That's what VISA charges you.

Suppose later a credit of 120 Euros is issued to you. VISA converts that 120 Euros to dollars and deducts 2% before you get it back. So you are out 4%.

That's how it worked for me, anyway.

Yes, I understand what you said, WillTravel. I just can't believe that the only way they could reverse the charge was to charge a credit.

No, I'm not saying you're wrong -- I'm just amazed at how stupid these credit card companies are. But I suppose I shouldn't be. Their aim seems to be to rip you off whenever possible.

note to minimn, I guess I'm being defensive, but...

The Bonaparte's charging me now, 4+ months in advance, is not going to save them from a last-minute cancellation, it might instead result in my not staying there at all if I find an equivalent place with a less-annoying policy. As Christina says, I've been to Paris many times and stayed in all sorts of hotels; this is the first time I've been charged in advance. I am also scrupulous about calling should I cancel anything abroad or at home: hotels, restaurants, appointments,etc.

I don't believe in taking advantage of anyone, but I trust businesses to have to do what they feel they must in order to turn a profit. The Bonaparte mentions a cancellation policy of 72 hours in advance. I will make up my mind LONG before that, but I assume that they know their business well enough that even if I were to cancel 72 hours in advance, they will not be out much money or they will be able to re-rent the room to someone else, at least on average, and that's why they would refund my money. If they are more than likely to get stuck with an empty room, they should require a cancellation more days in advance, as in fact some hotels do. It's not my job to look after them.
And I say this as a person who works in the housing industry; I know about deposits, cancellations, no shows, refunds, and this type of business risk.

Hi elaine,

If their charge policy bothers you this much, I suggest that you cancel.

There is no sense staying at a hotel where you are less than pleased with the arrangements before you get there.

Elaine,
Just curious... did the Hotel Bonaparte request that you fax the credit card number or could you have given them the number over the phone? We don't have a fax machine at home... my husband has one at work, but I generally prefer to give the number over the phone. However, I've noticed a couple of hotels that wouldn't take the number over the phone.

Best,
Sandy

Hi

ira, I'm irritated but not furious and have other factors to consider as well, but thanks

sandypaws
their room offer letter says fax or traveler's checks in euros or bank draft in euros.

Hi Sandy,

>We don't have a fax machine at home... my husband has one at work, but I generally prefer to give the number over the phone. However, I've noticed a couple of hotels that wouldn't take the number over the phone.

Many smaller hotels prefer to conduct their communications by FAX so as to lessen misunderstandings.

Sending a FAX is no more dangerous than making a phone call. Receiving the FAX at the workplace could be a problem, since someone other than you hubby could see the reply.

You can also correspond by snail mail.

well, I made have made an expensive oversight, we'll see.

I decided to cancel my reservation at the Bonaparte, which I made only about a week ago. I just faxed them to cancel, and asked for a confirmation of that.

However, in reading the reservation letter more carefully, I now note that it says that reservations may be canceled 72 hours prior to arrival, minus a 16 euro cancellation fee.
I'm hoping that since my arrival was not to be until December, that will not be an issue.

So here's their really strict policy: Charge the credit card months in advance, have use of the money at the client's further expense, and then possibly charge 16 euro for a cancellation. The oversight was stupidly entirely mine, but I guess I was correct when I said above that businesses look after themselves and so should we.
Whew!

I'll post here about how much of a refund I get. Charge was to be 91e.

I guess it's too late now, but maybe you should consider staying there for one night. Maybe they won't charge a cancelation fee in that case? But, of course, it's a hassle to have to move from one hotel to another.

Enjoy your trip though.

oh, that is too bad, but I sure wouldn't stay there one night to avoid a 16 euro fee, as moving will be more trouble.

Now that I know they have a cancellation fee, I suspect that might be part of the reason for charging in advance -- it might be difficult (even legally) to just charge someone's card a cancellation fee but this way they can deduct it from the room amount and only issue a smaller credit. I bet that's why they do it.

NOw that I think of it, the few hotels I've run across in Paris that do charge a day's deposit in advance also charge a cancellation fee (Relais Bosquet is one of them). I thought that might have been tied to the booking system software they were using, however, rather than the hotel, but didn't know. Their web site explains it.

I also ran across a new one recently which is another way for hotels to make money -- the Exclusive Hotel chain in Paris (which has some nice places) has rather stiff cancellation fees but will sell you insurance for that so that you are charged no cancellation fee up to 24-48 hrs ahead or something (which is normal in most hotels), but they make you pay $25 or so for this "cancellation insurance". I thought that was a creative idea to make money. I didn't book at one of their hotels I was considering, but since it was for four nights, I would have paid the extra $25 rather than risk the cancellation penalty even though I had no intention of cancelling.

So, these hotels do turn some people off, like me, as that's one reason I went elsewhere even though I have never cancelled a hotel reservation in about 30 years.

I can see for some hotels, maybe the Bonaparte, they get a lot of cancellations and then instituted this policy to help reduce them.

It is an unfortunate lesson, but at least only 16 euro or so, and maybe someone else will learn from this thread.

Hi
I heard back from the Bonaparte, they have cancelled my reservation as requested (4 months in advance of my stay) but they are indeed deducting 16 euro.
Moral of the story, a lesson I should have learned many trips ago: read every detail of the confirmation or offer letters. The fact that my credit card would actually be charged now for one night was NOT mentioned in advance, but the cancellation fee WAS.