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Hilton considers tiered pricing after testing cancellation fee

Column: industry Tag: Hilton,cancellation fee Published: 2016-03-01 16:41 Source: Author:

Hilton Worldwide, which late last year tested a $50 cancellation fee at some of its hotels, will consider a tiered pricing structure in which guests who want cancellation flexibility would be charged more, according to Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta.

While guests “hated” the fee, Nassetta said, he cited the airline industry's success with charging more for a flexible ticket.

“What we want to do is make sure that on behalf of ourselves and our owners that we're not tying up inventory unnecessarily without customers having to take any risk or have any cost, but we have to migrate a behavior from where it is to where we want it to be,” Nassetta said during the company’s earnings call with analysts last Friday. “And I think there's some really intelligent things that I think you'll see us start to do later this year to start to move customers down that journey of recognizing, yeah, if you want total flexibility, there is a price for that.”

Hilton ran its cancellation fee trial at two dozen hotels last November and December.

Both Hilton and Marriott International addressed this issue in early 2015 by enacting a policy in which guests who cancel reservations the same day as the scheduled stay are charged for one night. Additionally, both hotel companies have looked to reduce cancellations by offering discounts on prepaid, nonrefundable rooms at some hotels.

Source：Travel Weekly

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