Hotel website reservations, is it safe to cancel.
 

Hi, I made reservations through
travelweb.com because I read in the NY TIMEs that it was owned by the big and better hotel chains.
My reservtion for 3 nights amounted to
291.69 , I paid with Amex . It is a pre paid reservation and a cancelation fee of
$25 applies if cancelation is done later than 48 hours before arrival.
Today I got an e mail from United-expedia and find out that same hotel same dates is only $ 230.34. So I am tempted to cancel pay the $25 and reserve again in Expedia.
Do the more expert users of these sites think I am crazy ?or is it worth it. The savings will at the end be $36, I do not know if it meanful taking risks for so little.
What risks? may be an unexpected fee from Expedia or somthing wrong regarding the refund.
I wish to let everybody know that apparently hotel reservation sites
sites cover their backs using different names for the rooms , like expedia used "stardard room", and travelweb " de luxe room" but I checked with the hotel and they only have one kind of rooms, all are de luxe.
I believe they use these different names for what seem to be the same kind of room so users cannot request a refund for the difference. This is valid with this hotel.

Well, I cancelled a hotel reservation made through hotels.com, paid the $20 fee (which was $10 when i made the reservation a few months prior!), and they were very good about it, the refund appeared correctly on my credit card. But I've had other bad experiences with credit card refunds in general, and I've read here about people having trouble with this kind of thing. I don't really think $36 is worth the hassle and non-peace of mind you will and already do have.

love
roxy

I cancelled reservations once, made it for 2 rooms and my friends had to cancel, so I did it through Expedia. I was surprised to see later on the bank statement they returned the money (minus the fee) the next day! I did not have a problem with my reservation upon checking in.

I'm cheap. I would rebook to save the $36. If you try travelaxe.com you should be able to bring up hotel rates of around 10 sites, perhaps you could do even better. And perhaps check out quikbook.com too.

I will be in the minority here, but I would eat the $36 and not rebook.

Why?

Because you will now have TWO reservations in your name (one cancelled, one valid) and that confuses hotels, plus

Expedia is like Priceline. They get "run of house" rooms no matter what they tell you. Travelweb is owned by hotel chains and you have a better chance of a better room.

For $36 I wouldn't go through the trouble of canceling and rebooking.

I would contact Travelweb and tell them about the price that Expedia is offering for the same hotel, same room, same dates, etc. and ask that they meet the price that Expedia has. Make a printout of the Expedia pricing and have it ready to fax to or email to Travelweb so that they can see the competition's pricing with their own eyes.

If you do this, I'd suggest using a different name (like your spouse if appropriate) for the second reservation.