Have you ever been frustrated by hotels’ strict cancellation policies?
Well, an influencer who offers life advice now has the remedy for you.
Sharif Ceasar, who uses the Instagram username @realmelaninkingbroke down his apparent life hack for avoiding expensive fees if you ever needed to cancel a hotel reservation at the last minute.
“The hotels don’t want you to know this secret,” Sharif began.
Sharif Ceasar took to his social media platforms to reveal his apparent trick to avoid paying cancellation fees.
He continued to reveal his strategy by depicting an imaginary conversation between a customer hoping to cancel his reservation and a hotel employee.
“Good morning, I would like to cancel my hotel reservations,” said Sharif, in the character of a fictional traveler.
“Okay, no problem, but we have to charge a $300 cancellation fee since it’s less than 24 hours before the reservation,” Sharif responded, acting as a receptionist.
‘Man, you’re tripping. ‘I’m not going to pay $300,’ the customer responded.
‘That’s the hotel’s policy. There’s nothing I can do about it,” the employee responded.
‘Okay, can I change my arrival date to next week?’ the client requested.
‘It’s ok no problem. I’ll change it right now,’ the employee stated.
Their role play then shows the fictional traveler calling back the next day.
“I would like to cancel my hotel reservations for next week,” the customer requested.
‘No problem, sir. I will process it and send you the refund,’ the front desk employee responded.
Bottom line: Sharif’s advice is to request that the reservation be postponed far enough into the future and then cancel it, without any cancellation fee.
‘Wait a second. Aren’t you the same guy he called yesterday? How did you know how to get around our policy? they continued.
“Oh, that’s because I follow The Real Melanin King,” Sharif concluded in the video.
So, in summary, Sharif’s trick is to try to delay the reservation long enough in the future to avoid last-minute cancellation fees when the reservation is finally canceled.
In the comments section, some avid travelers have confirmed that Sharif’s trick works.
“Yes, I have canceled the hotel several times just changing the date,” one person wrote.
A former hotel worker also chimed in, saying, “I can confirm the hotel’s cancellation.” He used to work as a receptionist at a resort in Waikiki.
Another person added: ‘The one at the hotel works for Airbnb too! My trip was canceled [because] from a hurricane, they did not refund me so I changed the reservation to a later date. So then I fallen in reason [because] The new travel date was about weeks away, the policy reset to reflect the new dates and I was able to cancel and get a full refund.’
In the comments section, some avid travelers have confirmed that Sharif’s trick works.
Meanwhile, a travel agent pointed out a small snag in Sharif’s plan.
‘If the original reservation is non-refundable, although the date cannot always be changed, the no refund policy remains in effect. Trust me. I’ve tried,’ they wrote.
On the other hand, former hotel workers insisted that the trick would not work.
One said: ‘This trick doesn’t work. Hotels have become very aware of this little scheme, so they will not allow any modifications, including a change of date, to prevent you from trying to circumvent the hotel policy.
“Third-party reservations are especially difficult to cancel, as they typically cannot be changed, canceled or refunded, and the process requires them to contact the hotel for permission to modify or cancel the reservation each time, which most the times [it is] denied.’
Another added: “Our hotel would inform the customer that because they are moving, they will book 24 hours.” [hours]They will not be able to cancel it again in the future.
‘All notes were put into the system and if there was a cancellation we used to go to the customer’s history to check all the details before canceling the booking, so it doesn’t always work. It’s worth a try though!’
On the other hand, former hotel workers insisted that the trick would not work.
Last year, someone shared the Same trick via Reddit.explaining: ‘I always book with one of the cheaper hotel booking options which charges you for a night’s stay or whatever if you cancel too late.
“So instead of canceling, some hotels will allow you to simply change [or] modify the reservation to a later date or change the rate to a more expensive rate that allows full refunds.
‘Make the change and then cancel the reservation without cancellation fees.’
The Redditor noted that this trick only worked “when booking directly through the hotel and probably won’t work everywhere, but it’s worth a try if you need to cancel.”
Sharif is not the first to take to social media to share various tips and tricks to help travel more efficiently.
DailyMail.com previously reported on a frequent traveler’s top tips, from avoiding hotel irons to using shower steam to straighten clothes.