A rate worth the risk?

Nonrefundable airfares make unwelcome travel companions that I tolerate only because they save me hundreds of dollars. And at least with most cruises and tours, thanks to deposit schedules, I lose my stake gradually.

Not so with nonrefundable hotel rates. Popping up as “Internet-only” or “advance-purchase” rates on websites of big lodging chains, these offer generally modest savings in return for taking a hefty risk: forfeiting the total cost of your stay (not just the first night) if you change or cancel your reservation.

Unless you’re the gambling type, this deal may not be worth it. You can often pay less without giving up the right to cancel. You just have to know where to look and whom to ask.

Take my experience with the Westin Monache Resort, an upscale condo-hotel at Mammoth Lakes.

In a recent Web search for a two-night stay in early December, I found an Internet-only, nonrefundable rate of $329 plus tax for a deluxe suite, or $30 less than the lowest refundable rate. For two nights, I’d save $60, but if I were to cancel, I’d lose $658, or more than 10 times my savings.

For taking this risk, Westin gave me an 8% discount. That’s pretty puny compared with what airlines give you. When I recently searched United’s website for early December round trips from LAX to Chicago, the airline was charging $364 for a nonrefundable economy fare, or less than half the refundable fare.

On the websites of two other hotels I checked for December stays, the Hilton San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf and Marriott’s Courtyard New York Manhattan/Fifth Avenue, nonrefundable rates were 15% less than refundable ones.

Lesson 1: The risk-reward equation may not favor you.

Next I called Westin’s reservations desk, requesting the lowest price for the same early December stay, and was offered $359 a night.

When I asked if there was an even cheaper rate, the agent offered the suite for $287 per night, citing a 20%-off deal for two-night stays. That rate, which he said was unavailable on the Internet, was fully refundable up to Nov. 28.

My experience was not unusual, said Bjorn Hanson, associate professor at the Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University.

If you’re persistent, he said, reservation desks, eager to fill rooms, will often lower the price in steps to a base rate that their manager has set. This may be especially true if you visit, rather than call, the hotel late in the day.

Don’t be shy about asking, he added.

“You’re not trying to date the desk clerk,” Hanson said. “People shouldn’t be embarrassed.”

Lesson 2: You may get a lower rate by dealing with a person.

I also checked out two travel websites for the Westin stay.

Expedia.com and Priceline.com offered the same price as the hotel’s Internet-only rate, $329 plus tax, and both said they would immediately charge my credit card for the full stay. But their terms were more generous.

Expedia said I could cancel up to Nov. 28 and get a full refund, minus a $25 fee. Priceline.com said I could cancel up to Dec. 2 and get a partial refund, minus the first night’s cost.

Through negotiated contracts, travel websites can sometimes get better deals than you can on your own.

Lesson 3: You may get better terms through a third party.

Another strategy is to reserve a room at a refundable rate but check the hotel’s website shortly before the cancellation deadline. If a lower, nonrefundable rate is available, book that and cancel your previous reservation.

If the hotel is heavily booked, of course, you may get stuck paying the original, higher rate. So this tactic works best on weekdays or other low-demand times.

Lesson 4: Bait and switch may pay off.

If this all seems like a game, that’s because it is. Hotels are trying to guess your intentions, based on past customer behavior, and fill their rooms at the highest price they can get. If you’re willing to remove their risk of losing room revenue, they’ll reward you with a cheaper rate, said Jan D. Freitag, vice president of Smith Travel Research in Hendersonville, Tenn. “The consumer should think of it as discount, not as a right,” he said.

And like any discount, it’s all about the math.

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jane.engle@latimes.com