Get a Refund on a ‘Non-refundable’ Hotel Reservation

Vocabulary Questions:

1. Define the expression “life gets in the way“, “Pandemic or not, sometimes life gets in the way of your travel plans.” Use this expression in your own sentence.
It means that unpredictable events could happen which could force you to modify your plans. “Although you carelessly plan your activities, life could get in the way and alter them”.

2. Define “to save a few bucks“, “When you request for a nonrefundable rate to be refunded you are essentially asking the hotel to disregard the risk that you took in order to save a few bucks.”. Use this phrase in your own sentence.
It means to save money. In this case, just a few. “We did not order a dessert just to save a few bucks”.

3. Define “to have a better shot at something“, “We should note that it’s always left to the discretion of the hotel or booking site as to whether or not to give you your money back—these are just situations where you have a better shot at being successful.“. Use this phrase in your own sentence.
It means to have better chances to obtain what you want/need and thus you should try it. “In this contest, we had a better shot to win the first prize”.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you prefer to call or email a hotel when you want to discuss something with them? Why is this the case?
I usually prefer to email them because the arguments or the decision is written and it is easy to reread after it. There are some cases, however, that explaining the situation is easy by call. But in general, I would prefer to use the email.

2. What are some reasons why people cancel their reservations?
The reasons could be that an unpredictable event arose and thus they had to cancel the whole trip. It is generally due to illness or accidents. Other reason could be that they changed their minds and decided to go elsewhere but I think it is the less frequent.

3. What do you usually pre-pay when you book a hotel?
I usually pre-pay just the reservation. There are hotels that you do not need to pay anything in advance and in case you do not appear to the hotel, they will just charge one night.

4. Do you know anyone who paid a cancellation fee? How much was it?
No, I do not know anyone. I am not sure about cancellation fees, I do not think prices are high. It should be a balance amount among costs and risks.

5. What will you do if you have to cancel a non-refundable service?
I will cancel it, and contact the service provider to explain the situation and request for a refund if possible.

6. When was the last time you asked for a refund? Why?
During the pandemic situation, I asked for a refund of some theatre tickets we had bought. The event were cancelled and they propose us to keep them and use them in the future. However, the pandemic situation lasted longer than expected and then we decided to ask for a refund.