During this time of uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been working closely with the industry and our partners.
As part of this, we’ve been working with Online Travel Agencies (OTA’s) to support postponement, rather than cancellation of bookings,
Booking.com
Booking.com has announced the following temporary changes to help businesses manage date modifications from visitors:
- There is now the option for businesses to process date modification for guests on upcoming stays, without a requirement to contact the Booking.com customer support team. When a date change has been made, on request of your guests, they’ll then receive a confirmation email detailing these changes.
- Policy details for all modified reservations will remain the same. This means that when a reservation is pushed to the future, it may become refundable again and the guest may have the ability to cancel completely.
Read the full announcement for these temporary changes.
Booking.com is also providing daily coronavirus updates, including updates on Forced Circumstances and other important partner information. Take a look at Booking.com’s coronavirus page.
Expedia
Expedia Group has introduced a force majeure flex policy for its travel partners. This applies to all bookings worldwide with eligible stay dates prior to 30 April 2020. This policy includes:
- Automatic refunds to visitors who get in touch requesting to cancel existing bookings within the eligible dates. For these cancellations, Expedia is waiving cancellation fees and refunding any pre-payments.
- Updating all rate plans for future bookings with eligible stay dates to have a free cancellation prior to 24 hours before the check-in date. This allows visitors to cancel now or delay their decision until closer to their stay at your property, should the situation improve.
- The ability for you to now initiate the cancellation on behalf of a visitor within Partner Central.
