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Trick to Avoid Hyatt Late Cancellation Penalty

ByDW
Alt text: A view from an airplane window showing the wing of the plane and a scenic sky filled with clouds. The text "AcCounting Your Points" is overlaid on the image, with a paper airplane graphic between the words "AcCounting" and "Your Points." The sky has a soft gradient of colors from blue to a warm, golden hue.

It’s a bummer having to cancel travel plans at the last minute. You get all excited and play out the upcoming trip in your head over and over… but then life happens and plans have to change, whether you like it or not!

If a trip cancellation wasn’t already depressing enough, most airlines and many hotels have policies in place to penalize you for late changes/cancellations.

THOSE JERKS!

The image shows the exterior of a modern building with a sign that reads "Hyatt Regency." The building has a sleek, contemporary design with large windows and a gray color scheme. There are a few leafless trees in front of the building, and a flagpole is visible on the right side. The sky appears to be overcast.

Hyatt, for instance, will typically charge you one night penalty for cancelling any less than 48 hours in advance. Keep in mind, this penalty applies to both paid rates and award nights!

In some cases, as we will cover today, this 48 hour cancellation grace period can actually extend much longer… like an additional 88 days longer!

The Park Hyatt St. Kitts Cancellation Policy – BEFORE the Trick:

I have been dying to visit the brand new Park Hyatt St. Kitts! I even applied for the Chase Hyatt Visa in anticipation of the Grand Opening and have been reserving my 2 free night certificate sign-up bonus to redeem at this hotel! Once I had my 2 nights reserved on certificates, I decided to speculatively book a 3rd night on Points + Cash, just in case the 2 nights wasn’t going to be enough time at the property. Well, plans change and I needed to cancel that 3rd night.

I logged into my World of Hyatt account and was about to hit cancel, when I noticed the cancellation policy…

The image shows a hotel reservation confirmation for Park Hyatt St. Kitts. The details include: - Confirmation #: 56267717 - Rate Information: 15,000 Points + 300.00 USD per Night/Room - Total: 15,000 Points + 366.00 USD Total per Room - Check-In: Jan/28/2018 - Check-Out: Jan/29/2018 - Number of Rooms: 1 - Number of Adults: 1 - Number of Kids: 0 - Room Preference: KING Highlighted in red is the Cancellation Policy: "90 Days Prior To Arrival To Avoid One Night Fee." The Guarantee Policy states: "Credit Card Guarantee Required." There are options to "Modify" or "Cancel" the reservation at the bottom.

That’s right people – apparently there are some Hyatt reservations where you must cancel 90 days in advance to avoid a one night penalty!

This seems crazy, right!? But here I was…

So, rather than click cancel and incur the one night fee (and then subsequently try to argue for reimbursement), I decided to try my luck with a service that has helped me out with all things Hyatt in the past…

THE TRICK – Hyatt Concierge via Twitter:

I thought maybe (just maybe) my good friends at Hyatt Concierge would be able to help me out of this sticky situation. I contacted them directly via Twitter message, and here is our conversation:

The image shows a Twitter direct message conversation between a customer and Hyatt Concierge. The customer is requesting to cancel a reservation with confirmation number #8627177, mentioning that they just noticed a 90-day cancellation policy. They explain that they made the reservation earlier this month, which is less than 90 days from the date of stay, and are asking for a way to avoid the cancellation penalty. The customer mentions they will be spending the prior nights at the hotel and asks if there is any way to avoid cutting their stay short. Hyatt Concierge responds that they do not have a way to waive the cancellation policy for that hotel but offers to move the reservation to another date within the next 13 months. The customer then asks to move the reservation to May 3, 2018 - May 5, 2018. The image shows a screenshot of a Twitter direct message conversation between a user and Hyatt Concierge. The conversation is about changing a hotel reservation. The messages are as follows: Hyatt Concierge: "I do not have a way to waive the cancel policy for that hotel. Would you like to move it to another date in the future? I can book anything in the next 13 months. -JS" (4:35 PM) User: "Yes, can you please move it to May 4, 2018 - May 5, 2018" (5:00 PM) Hyatt Concierge: "Yes, I went ahead and made this adjustment. I sent you a confirmation email. The new cancellation policy is 2 weeks prior to arrival by 3pm hotel time. Is there anything else I can assist you with? *MW" (5:12 PM) The interface shows typical Twitter elements such as the profile picture, message input field, and icons for sending messages, photos, and other actions.

Initially I just wanted to cancel the reservation without penalty, but based on my communication it seems that the Hyatt Concierge CAN’T waive fees specifically at this hotel (Park Hyatt St. Kitts).

What the Hyatt Concierge CAN change is the date of the reservation, up to 13 months in the future… meaning I could change the date of stay to extend past the current cancellation period of 90 days!

From there, I searched Points + Cash award availability at Park Hyatt St. Kitts  well out into the future, and came across a random date in May with availability.

I requested the change, and it was reflected as such…

The Park Hyatt St. Kitts Cancellation Policy – AFTER the Trick:

Here is my new reservation within my World of Hyatt account shortly after contacting Hyatt Concierge via Twitter direct message and requesting the date change!

The image is a hotel reservation confirmation for Park Hyatt St. Kitts. It includes the following details: - Check-In Date: May 4, 2018 - Check-Out Date: May 5, 2018 - Confirmation Number: 6626717 - Rate Information: 15,000 Points + 300.00 USD per Night/Room - Total: 15,000 Points + 366.00 USD Total per Room - Number of Rooms: 1 - Number of Adults: 1 - Number of Kids: 0 - Room Preference: KING - Cancellation Policy: 14 Days Prior To Arrival To Avoid One Night Fee - Guarantee Policy: Credit Card Guarantee Required There are options to modify or cancel the reservation at the bottom. Key details such as check-in/check-out dates and the cancellation policy are highlighted in red boxes.

Not only was I outside of the former reservation’s 90 day cancellation period, but my new reservation came with more generous cancellation terms of 14 days prior to arrival!

The Cancellation – NO CHARGE, NO PENALTY:

I let the updated reservation sit for a couple days – since it was now all the way out in May 2018 with 14 day cancellation terms – and then came back and CANCELLED WITH NO PENALTY!

Alt text: A screenshot of a hotel reservation cancellation notice. The top section indicates that the reservation has been canceled and provides a contact number for further assistance. Below, there is information about the selected hotel, Park Hyatt St. Kitts, including its address and contact details. The reservation details show a stay from Friday, May 4, 2018, to Saturday, May 5, 2018, for 1 night with 1 adult and no children. There is also an option to add the reservation to Apple Wallet.

Cancellation success! No cash penalty paid! No points lost!

What a sweet trick!?

Final Thought

Cancellations happen and you can’t always get your non-refundable amounts and schedule change/cancellation penalties back…

But when it comes to Hyatt, you just may be able to use the Hyatt Concierge via Twitter direct messaging in order to change your reservation to a future date outside of the cancellation period, then subsequently cancel for no penalty!

Have you ever utilized Hyatt Concierge on Twitter? Have you been able to have late cancellation penalties waived by using this very trick!?

Happy Travels!

DW

The image shows a simple white line drawing of a paper airplane inside a blue circle.

2 Comments

  1. Love, love this trick!! I really enjoy reading your blog – keep posting!

    Mary Bahr (tell our Dad hi from Steve)

    Reply

  2. A few years ago I tried to cancel a Radisson reservation within the 24 or 48 hour time. I called the main Club Carlson 800 number. The agent called the hotel and the hotel refused to waive the penalty. The agent came back on the line and said he was disappointed by the hotel’s refusal to honor the cancellation request. The agent himself then offered to move the reservation to a date in the future so I could then cancel it.

    I’m pretty sure that I blogged about this, but it was a few years ago and I don’t want to search for the post.

    But the point is this is always a viable way (I don’t call it a trick or a hack) to deal with this situation with any hotel or hotel chain.

    Reply

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