Hotels.com: Flexible Cancellation Policy for Gulf Region Hotels

Pensacola Beach, Florida. Some of the area's beaches have been closed due to the BP oil spill. Credit: divemasterkng2000

Hotels.com has partnered with select hotels in the Gulf Coast region of Florida to provide customers a new flexible cancellation policy.

The move comes following the BP oil spill two months ago,  and the ensuing damage to Florida’s coastal beaches, which has resulted in the closure of some beaches in the region. Under the new policy, Hotels.com will offer a longer booking cancellation window as guests have the option to cancel their hotel reservation on the day of arrival until 5 p.m. Central Time to receive a full refund on unused nights with no penalty or fee.

In addition, Hotels.com has lessened the confusion by not instituting mileage requirements from government-closed beaches to be qualified for the policy.

“Our new flexible cancellation policy is easy to understand and use if our customers need to change their plans on very short notice due to closed beaches. We always strive to make it easy for our customers to book travel with us and now we are making it even easier than before to change plans as well. We are able to readjust our policy due to the situation and to provide our customers worry-free travel planning,” said Taylor L. Cole, APR, director of public relations for Hotels.com.

The new flexible cancellation policy is valid for customers who book new reservations on select participating properties on www.hotels.com between June 25, 2010 and 11:59 p.m. Central Time on September 6, 2010 using coupon code OILFLEX for travel between June 25 and September 30, 2010.

Customers who need to cancel a qualifying booking must call the hotels.com Contact Center at 1-800-246-8357 by 5:00 pm Central Time on the scheduled day of arrival.  For a list of participating hotels and full terms and conditions, click here