Moving back to a Strict cancellation policy

[Mike-And-Jane0]

We used to have a strict cancellation policy (not that this is overly strict) but changed to flexible early this year to encourage bookings. Given that Covid seems to be getting under control in the UK and the fact that we have just lost two bookings at short notice we are moving back to the strict policy. Almost all our guests are now from the UK so they have not invested in flights etc that would normally make us more comfortable with the security of their bookings.

Anyone have any views on whether this is sensible or not?

[Anonymous]

@Mike-And-Jane0   I can't vouch for the post-Covid market, since we have a long way to go in Germany to catch up with the progress some countries have made. But from my past experience, I never regretted using the Strict policy. I usually only opened up a limited number of dates at a time (no more than 3 months ahead), so guests tended to be close enough to the travel date to be fully committed to it. 

If I were hosting under the current circumstances, I'd have an even shorter window of availability - no more than 6 weeks. There are a lot of different ways things could go if international travel into the EU and UK resumes in June, and we're all now used to progress being reversed, so it would be foolish to think there's anything predictable about the trajectory of summer and beyond. Even so, having a Strict policy doesn't mean you can't make exceptions at your own discretion. And if it discourages people who aren't in a position to commit from booking - is that an altogether bad thing?

[Angelica-Y-Jorge0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 We have left our strict cancellation policy on throughout the pandemic. This allows us for the most part to make the final decision. As an example, Carnival was cancelled this year due to COVID and we decided to give our guests who booked a full refund since that was the only reason they were coming. I think the flexible option only blocks up your calendar with a lack of commitment from the guest.

[Nina75]

@Mike-And-Jane0  I never switched... But yes a good call. Strict all the way. To be honest I dont think the cancellation policy means anything regardless. If a guest makes a good excuse they can easily get a refund but at least Strict Cancellation Policy discourages refunds.