File this one in the back of your brain the next time you’ve booked a pricey non-refundable stay with Hilton (including any Hilton portfolio brand, for example Conrad, Waldorf Astoria, Double Tree, etc).
In this article
You Can Change a Non-Refundable Hilton Reservation (For a Fee)
See the text that I bolded and italicized below which is directly from the Hilton website (in this case the Deals page on the Waldorf Astoria website).
Modification of Reservation: Price quoted applies to exact date(s)/nights/stay booked. Modifications to your
reservation (including but not limited to name changes, date changes, etc.) are not permitted. However, for bookings in the United States Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, a request to cancel an existing Advance Purchase/Non-Refundable reservation and book a new reservation may be permitted if at the time you are requesting a change to your reservation, you book a new Advance Purchase/Non Refundable reservation at any hotel in the Hilton portfolio located in the United States, Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean, subject to availability. Upon receipt of full payment for the new reservation, Hilton will issue a refund for the cancelled reservation, less a service fee. It may take up to four (4) weeks for the refund to be reflected on your credit card. For stays originally booked at the Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Hilton, Embassy Suites or Doubletree brand hotels, the service fee is $50.00 and for stays originally booked at a Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites, the service fee is $25.00. For a cancellation and rebooking to be considered, you must call our Advance Purchase Department to request a change to your reservation at (800) 236-7113 or (972) 726-3361 no less than three days prior to your scheduled check-in date.
There’s a Cost
As you can see, you’ll pay $25 – $50 to do this. But I can certainly see a situation where you book a 5 night stay for $1,500 prepaid and the rate drops to $1,200. You’d make back $250-275 in this case.
Generally, I *always* avoid prepaid reservations because I hate the idea that the price will drop substantially – not to mention I may change my plans.
This Won’t Let You Cancel Outright
You do have to book a new non-refundable and non-changeable rate to do this. You cannot simply pay the feee to cancel.
Did you know about this Hilton policy?
Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
