Well it’s no secret that hotels overbook. It’s a valid business decision. They try to maximize their revenue by estimating how many people won’t show up for their rooms each day, and then overbook by that number. Most days, the system works. But sometimes the hotel gets it wrong, and people with reservations have to be turned away.
No hotel wants to disappoint guests and potentially lose future business. They try to work things out so that the fewest guests are inconvenienced. But in the end, managers often have to make arbitrary decisions about who gets to stay and who gets bumped to another property. Here are a few ways you can help managers decide to keep you and walk someone else:
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Guarantee your reservation with a credit card number when you make a reservation…because if you don’t, your reservation is considered “non-guaranteed.” On busy days, non-guaranteed reservations are canceled around 4 p.m.
Arrive early in the day if you can. Hotels don’t usually start walking guests until they’re sure they have oversold their rooms. At 4 p.m. there’s still a good chance that people will cancel or turn out to be no-shows, but by 11 p.m. the hotel will be completely full.
Make a connection. When a hotel employee scans an arrivals list, most reservations are just meaningless names and numbers. Making personal contact with the front desk staff before your visit personalizes you and makes you memorable.
Join a rewards program…hotels will rarely bump their loyal guests. Overbooking is inevitable, but you needn’t get walked.
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