When do tour groups usually cancel?
 

We've been trying since October to get rim view cabins at Grand Canyon North and Bryce Canyon for Sept 2009. All rooms were booked. (I realize the need to book very far in advance - had to wait until we got our flights arranged) Last week a few rooms (not the rim view) opened up. I am wondering if some (many) of the rooms were booked by a tour group. If so, when would their cancellation deadline likely be? i.e. - on our cruise last May the deadline for final payment was in March. Thanks!

I asked the same thing at checkin at the Grand Canyon this last summer. They told me groups of rooms open up at the last minute, which I believe is 2 or 3 days notice. The place was sold out months in advance, but when I went there in peak season there were rooms available for walk up patrons. Go figure.

I asked a reservation agent the same question about Yellowstone and was told that people firm up their plans a week or two in advance of their trip and cancel as needed. A couple of years ago I tried to book a year in advance for the Old Faithful Inn and it was booked. I made lodging reservations outside of the park and kept calling for reservations. About a week before I left all of my dates opened up for the room of my choice. I was surprised since the trip was over a July 4 weekend.

I hope it works out for you!

You just have to keep checking, daily is best. I'd reserve something at both places now anyway and keep checking for cancellations. You're probably going be outside most of the time during the day anyway, so not getting a rim view room isn't so bad.

For future reference, or for others reading this thread there really is no need to wait until you have flights arranged to book rooms at the popular US National Parks.

You need to pay 1 night deposit up front, but reservations are fully cancellable with no penalty up to either 2 or 3 days in advance.

When I lived in SF area I would routinely book Yosemite rooms a full 1yr ahead for a 1 week block for several dates in the sping & summer each year, hoping to be able to use at least one of them. Once I knew my travel plans better I'd narrow down the exact dates or cancel altogether so others could then book rooms.

I agree with the comments above - since you will be at the rim or below the entire time you are there just having a room at the park is good. You really don't miss that much by not having a rim view room. Check back from time to time but don't obsess about it.

When booking Zion a number of years ago, we could only get 1 night and we wanted 4. The reservationist told us to call back 30 days beforehand, as large tour companies often book blocks of rooms but must release any unsold rooms 30 days prior. We were able to get our rooms when we called back.

I went to Bryce, Zion & GC last year.

I started off with one of my desired nights and eventually ended up with all.

I called Xanterra daily and was on a first-name basis with them.

Don't bother with the web site as it's not updated immediately with cancellations.

Obviously, the tour companies will keep the dates as late as possible. They start to cancel a couple of weeks before each date.

Call, call, call.

About "rim view rooms". I don't remember any rooms anywhere with actual rim views.

I had a little cabin in Bright Angel and I was probably less than 50 yards from the rim.

I took the shuttle bus to Hopi Pt for the sunset and just got up the next morning and walked along the rim to see the sun come up.

A couple of hundred yards won't make a difference. You just have to get up early and walk over.

Call, call, call!!!!

Forgot to mention.

In-park is quite valuable for Bryce Canyon as it's in the middle of nowhere.

The best views for sunrise are at Bryce Pt. Being outside the park adds a half hour (even from Ruby's).

At Bryce I was about 50 yards from the rim between Sunrise & sunset Pts. I still had to drive over to Bryce Pt.

It get pretty windy & cold there. Make sure you're dressed for it. The overlook at Bruce Pt juts out somewhat and is COLD.

We booked a tour of the Canyoins for last July. The tour group cancelled April 1st. sue to not having enough people. So...that particular tour company cancelled three months before the trip.

Forever Resorts (who now operate Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim) caused a lot of consternation last summer when they started accepting reservations more than a year in advance, without announcing that on their website. People were able to book for September 2009 (priime time) as early as June or July 2008. (This was repported on another travel board and I confirmed it). So those who waited until the "official" time to book were often disappointed.

Grand Canyon Lodge does book up fully, as it is the only lodge inside the park at the North Rim. Whe we were there in late September, there was a long line of people every afternoon, hoping to find a room without reservations. All were turned away.

I would suggest (if you still need a cabin) that you call every now and then, more frequesntly in summer and every day as the 30-day advance date approaches.

And---as others have said---you don't need a rim view cabin. The Pioneer cabins are strung out in several rows along the rim. We had a rim view cabin for two nights, but you really couldn't see the canyon out the (small) window. So the only advantage of the rim view cabins was that you had other cabins on only one side, not both.

There are far better places from which to see the canyon than your cabin window. . . .