Hilton CEO Says Cancellation Fees Will Stick Around Even if Guests Hate Them


Skift Take

Hilton Worldwide tested the waters with new cancellation fees and it evidently liked how things played out even if guests did not. The company will keep on testing fees until it finds a structure that sticks. Guests have nothing to fear if they have nothing to hide--cancellation plans, that is.

The results of Hilton Worldwide's recent guest cancellation fees experiment are in: customers "unsurprisingly hated" the fees, as CEO Chris Nassetta put it, but they'll likely continue in some variation as Hilton tests and implements new fee and pricing structures throughout 2016. In November Hilton began testing a $50 cancellation fee when a reservation is cancelled any time after a booking. But if a cancellation is made after 11:59p.m. the night before the stay begins, then the current policy of a charge of one night's room rate and tax was still in effect for all guests during the testing. Nassetta said Hilton's already testing new fees and pricing that will continue throughout this year and feels they reflect what airl