An online hotel cancellation is going to cost me $50.00. Is this fair when the total cost for two nights at the Radisson would have been $219? Are all penalty fees so high?

Penalty fees are high because of the paperwork involved in cancellations.
NW just raised their change/cancel fees to 150.00 per ticket. I used to work in the travel industry, and most people don't understand the pain in the a** that changes/cancels are.

How far in advance did you cancel? It amounts to less than 1 night stay so a deal, and normal especially if close to travel date. Do you complain about airline cancellation/change charges? There's no difference.

Cancellation fees are revealed before you make a reservation. If you can't abide them, then don't make the res.

I strongly DISAGREE with the last comment.
The COST of paperwork involved is quite modest.
Much like the banking industry and the credit card industry and the insurance industry, the airlines and agencies have figured out that add on fees (cancellation/change fees, etc) are a really easy way of adding to profit margins. And the $$ add up in a very big hurry.

But it has NOTHING to do with cost and inconvenience.
(What, all of a sudden the cost of a cancellation has become burdensome to the airlines when they seemed to get by just fine for the 60 years prior?)

ooops...."xxx3" got in before me....my reply was to "because".

the cancellation policy should have been somewhere when you reserved - travelocity and expedia are usually pretty clear about it - if you saved the original confirmation, check to see what it says. if it doesn't mention a fee, then fight it. if you didn't save anything, well, then, you're kind of stuck with whatever they say. i have found that the easiest way to fight these is often to have your credit card company do the work if the company gives you a hard time - you can call them and tell them you are questioning a charge and they will investigate - at least i know amex was really good -i had a $400 no show charge from Sheraton one time when I had a reservation for two rooms and when I cancelled, they only cancelled one room and tried to charge me for the other. amex took care of it.

by the way, most hotels allow free cancellation up until a certain very short period prior to arrival, many as short as 24 hours, sometimes more - one or two weeks - in resorty areas. they do not have the same type of policies as airlines (the mandatory charge for any normal priced ticket to change dates/time as soon as it is bought)

I made a hotel reservation online with Expedia..and cancelled. Cost me $25.00. The rules ARE there. Cancelling a reservation is a "snap". Unlike changing an airline ticket where all this mumbo -jumbo has to be typed in. Wow--$150 is steep!

I find it amusing that Southwest Airlines does not charge for changing/cancelling and makes a profit. yet the big airlines charge way too much and are losing money. What is wrong with this picture?

Use quikbook.com. Their cancellation policy is the same as the hotel's: usually no charge for canceling right up to the day of the reservation. And I guess the operative statement here is that if you don't like a site's cancellation policy, don't use that site.

I cancelled one month before reservation date. I'm not so much complaining as just flabbergasted that the penalty fee is so much higher than I expected. I didn't read the cancellation policy since I did not make the reservation.

My experience has been that if I made the reservation directly with the hotel - either by phone or online- I was able to cancel up til a very short time before my reservation. When I have made reservations through Travelocity, etc. there was usually a hefty cancellation fee no matter when you cancel.

"I didn't read the cancellation policy since I did not make the reservation."

Shame on you, then.

I know, googoo, I know.... I was just asking if the cancellation fees are all that high, which I know now are not. Case closed.

I would call my credit card co. and dispute the charge.