When planning travel, especially for teams, securing the right accommodations is crucial. Sometimes, the ideal hotel might be fully booked, leading to the option of joining a waitlist. This guide explains everything you need to know about hotel waitlists when booking through your Team Travel Source, ensuring you’re well-informed and prepared.
Joining a Hotel Waitlist: A Step-by-Step Guide
If your desired hotel appears as “Join Waitlist” for your selected dates, this means the hotel is currently sold out, but you have the opportunity to add your name to the waitlist. The process is straightforward: you proceed with the booking steps as you normally would, including providing your payment information. It’s important to note that if the hotel displays “Sold Out” without the waitlist option, unfortunately, joining the waitlist is not possible at that time.
Why Isn’t the Waitlist Always Available?
There are several reasons why the waitlist option might not be available for your chosen hotel. Hotels sometimes have pre-existing large group bookings that limit the number of rooms they can offer, restricting waitlist availability. Additionally, a waitlist can become full, meaning it’s no longer accepting new requests. Finally, as the event date approaches, waitlists may be deactivated due to the reduced time frame for potential cancellations and room availability changes.
Is There a Fee to Join a Hotel Waitlist?
No, joining a hotel waitlist through your team travel source is completely free of charge. You are only required to provide payment information to streamline the confirmation process should a room become available.
When Will I Know if My Waitlisted Reservation is Confirmed?
While it’s impossible to provide an exact confirmation time, rest assured that your team travel source is actively working with the hotel to fulfill waitlist requests. Typically, you will receive an update approximately 20 days before your arrival date if your waitlist request cannot be confirmed. If some nights of your request are confirmed and others remain waitlisted, you’ll have the choice to keep the confirmed nights and remove the waitlisted ones. It’s crucial to ensure your payment method is valid when joining the waitlist. If payment confirmation fails when a room becomes available, you will be given a 24-hour window to update your payment details. Unfortunately, available rooms cannot be held during this payment update period, emphasizing the importance of having valid payment information on file to secure your reservation promptly.
Managing Confirmed Reservations
Important Reminder: If your waitlisted reservation is confirmed, please remember to cancel any other existing reservations you may have made through your team travel source if they are no longer needed. This helps free up rooms for other travelers and avoids unnecessary charges.
Understanding the hotel waitlist process with your team travel source empowers you to effectively manage your team’s accommodation needs, even when initial availability is limited. By following these guidelines, you can navigate the waitlist system with confidence and increase your chances of securing your desired hotel rooms.
