What to do when your hotel price drops after booking

When a hotel price falls after you book, you can often get the lower price. Whether you can depends almost entirely on one choice you made at checkout: the cancellation policy of your rate.

Start with the rate you booked

Open your booking and read the cancellation terms.

If the rate has free cancellation until a date and time, you can book again at the lower price and cancel the original booking at no cost, as long as you do it before that deadline.

If it is partially refundable, cancelling costs part of what you paid. Switching only makes sense when the new price is lower by more than that charge.

If it is non-refundable, the price you paid is fixed and a later drop does not change it.

On myhoteloffers.com, your booking page shows the free cancellation deadline and what cancelling would cost from each date, so this check takes a minute.

Make sure it is really the same stay

A lower number in the search results is not always the same booking. Before you act, check that the new price is for:

• the same property, dates and number of guests
• the same room type and bed setup
• the same meal plan, for example room only or breakfast included
• cancellation terms you are happy with

The most common trap is a cheaper rate that is non-refundable. If your trip could still change, swapping a flexible booking for a locked one may not be a saving at all.

Compare the totals, not the nightly rates. Our prices show the all-in total, including taxes and any mandatory fees the property collects on arrival, so put that figure next to the total on your existing booking.

Book the new rate first, then cancel the old one

Do it in this order:

1. Book the lower rate and wait for the confirmation email.
2. Check the new confirmation: dates, guest name, room type and cancellation terms.
3. Cancel the original booking from your booking page, before its free cancellation deadline.

Booking first protects you if the cheaper room sells out while you are cancelling. For a short time you will have two bookings and two payments on your card. The refund for the cancelled booking follows its policy and goes back to the card you paid with. How quickly it shows on your statement depends on your bank.

Check the time of the deadline as well as the date, and do not leave the switch to the last hour.

When to check prices again

There is no reliable rule that hotel prices fall as your dates get closer. They move with demand. A city hosting a big conference or festival fills up and prices rise; a quiet week can bring lower rates. Nobody can tell you in advance which way your dates will go, but you can decide when to look.

• Book a rate with free cancellation as soon as you find a place and a price you are happy with. That is your baseline.
• Put two or three reminders in your calendar to search the same dates again. Make the last one a few days before the free cancellation deadline.
• Search with the same guests and room type each time, so the comparison is fair.

For dates around major events and public holidays, book early and expect prices to rise rather than fall.

Check the member price

If you were not signed in when you booked, sign in and search again. Many hotels on our site show a lower price to signed-in members, and the saving is shown on the stay. If you booked at the public price, the member price for the same room may be enough to make switching worthwhile.

After the deadline, stop checking

Once the free cancellation deadline has passed, switching means paying the cancellation charge. A lower price after that point is information you cannot use, so stop checking and get on with planning the trip.

If you are still choosing a rate, hotel cancellation policies explained covers the terms in more detail, and you can browse hotels with free cancellation.