Shut Out of Your Chosen Lodgings? Don’t Give Up

Maybe your vacations are all about sloth. No problem there. But if you want prime sloth--that perfect berth on the cruise ship, for instance, or that view room in your favorite hotel--then your planning should be all about persistence.

Consider my friend and colleague Susan Spano, who decided in early October that she wanted to spend a few days at the Grand Canyon in late October. She wanted Friday and Saturday nights, and she wanted them in El Tovar Hotel, the grandest of the several hotels and lodges serving the canyon’s busy south rim.

But when Susan called Amfac, the concessionaire that operates Grand Canyon National Park’s lodgings, the operator had no room for her at El Tovar and none at her second choice either, the Bright Angel Lodge. Both were full, as was the Kachina Lodge. Susan settled for the Maswik Lodge, half a mile from the rim, and authorized a credit-card charge for the required deposit. (Most Grand Canyon lodgings require a deposit of one night’s cost--refundable if you cancel at least 48 hours before you’re due to arrive.)

But then came the campaign of persistence.

About a week before her scheduled arrival, Susan called back to see about cancellations. And sure enough, despite the mandatory deposit--designed by the hotels to discourage cancellations--there had been one. Susan moved up from Maswik to the Kachina.

But she wasn’t done yet.

About four days before arrival, she called back yet again and hit pay dirt: a room at El Tovar on just the nights she needed. There were modest hassles involved. First, making the calls. Second, sorting out the deposit payments and credits that came with the room-switching. But she got what she wanted, and it didn’t cost her anything extra.

Such steadfast pursuit can yield benefits in many corners of the travel industry. (Odds of it working are even higher at lodgings that don’t take deposits.) For instance:

If you’re looking for a prime room in an overseas hotel, consider this tidbit from Jim Sano, president of Geographic Expeditions in San Francisco. Sano notes that most overseas hotels give tour operators deposit deadlines 60 days before arrival. If an operator’s tour marketing falls flat, then that’s the day he or she will probably end up canceling five or 10 rooms. So if you call your favorite Paris hotel on June 1 in search of a room on Aug. 5 and have been disappointed--call back on June 7.

If you’re hoping to elbow your way into a tour group that’s already full, the job may be harder. Sano notes that most tour operators require substantial deposits along with initial bookings (his company requires $500) and require full payment 30 days before departure. As a result, cancellation rates run low. Even though many travelers buy cancellation insurance, as few as 5% cancel.

Another good strategy, adds Kel McIntee, an agent at Horizon Travel in Montrose, Calif., is calling or faxing a hotel’s local number rather than its toll-free central reservations number. Often, McKee said, “a room magically appears” if you go straight to the source. (On-the-scene desk clerks almost always have a better grasp of how many rooms are available.) Those sudden appearances are even more likely, McIntee says, if you’re calling less than two weeks before arrival and can take advantage of late cancellations.

In the cruise business, too, there are rewards for extra effort. If you can travel on short notice and you have a travel agent who sells a fair number of cruises, McIntee notes, that agent probably gets last-minute word of upcoming cruises on which prices have been slashed to fill empty berths. Because most cruises are sold through travel agents, the cruise lines seldom make such offers directly to the public. Instead, they flood their favorite travel agents with faxes announcing these deals. Cruise line executives call this “re-pricing” or “reentering the market.”

A word on re-pricing: Several cruise lines, including Carnival and Princess, say that if you buy a $1,000 cruise and the price later drops to $800, they’ll compensate you for the difference. But as reservations operators acknowledge, you or your travel agent must ask for the compensation.

Princess Cruise Lines senior vice president Rick James affirms that tip and points to a few other techniques used by shrewd cruisers.

In the 18 months between a cruise line’s announcement of an itinerary and the departure of the ship, says James, “we can sell a cabin four times.”

First, he explains, many travel agencies tentatively reserve cabins they expect to sell. But often, if there’s not enough interest in the first week or two, those cabins bounce back to the cruise line. Then there are the travelers who pay a deposit nine months or a year ahead of the sailing and must adjust plans when business or family circumstances change. And after that, there are those who must bail out just ahead of the final payment deadline, typically 75 days before sailing, when the largest chunk of a prospective traveler’s money falls due.

You might expect a cruise line’s deposit requirement to keep cancellations to a minimum, but cruise lines also sell “cancellation waivers” to travelers who crave flexibility. If you and your spouse think you want a cabin on a seven-day, $3,000-per-person Caribbean cruise by Princess, for instance, you can lay down $189 per person for a cancellation waiver. If you cancel any time up to 48 hours before the sailing, you lose only the cost of the waiver. About 75% of the cruise line’s customers buy such waivers, James says.

As a result, cruisers who back out in the last week or two are losing $400 instead of $4,000. In Princess’s case, says James, that translates into a cancellation rate of about 20%.

With so many prospective cruisers canceling, most lines have waiting lists, allowing you to jump up to a better cabin or a different sailing if a spot opens. A wily travel agent, says James, can play a crucial role in helping you understand the nuances of the trade.

Christopher Reynolds welcomes comments and suggestions, but cannot respond individually to letters and calls. Write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053, or send e-mail to chris.reynolds@latimes.com.