Premier inn queries

[NeverTalksToStrangers]

So, I want to book a week's stay in July in a premier inn. Due to the length of stay, the difference between the flexi pay and pay-now-no-cancellation amount is quite considerable (roughly £200) but the fact that I can't cancel it is a bit concerning, especially as it's 6 months away and anything could happen. It's not a small amount of money to be losing (£700).

So my questions are;

1. has anyone ever tried to cancel a premier inn no cancellation deal? In the event of something serious happening? Did they show any sympathy? My main concern is due to having several elderly family members who are unwell at the minute.
2. if I were to book the flexi rate, can you switch to the saver rate at a later date?

I’m not sure you quite understand how no cancellation deals work....

1. maybe your own travel insurance would cover this if you cancel because of illness or other unavoidable circumstances?

2. no you can't usually do that

Would holiday insurance cover you if you booked the saver rate and then had to cancel? Would still be a lot cheaper in the long run.

They let me rearrange a “no cancellations” booking for another date, but I stay with them a lot.

I’ve had non flex ones I didn’t end up using and just lived with it

No, I can’t imagine that they would let you change after booking and give you the difference.

The point is you get rewarded for guaranteeing their income. If you want the flexibility to lose them that income at short notice, then it will cost you.

georgie point taken

I just think 6 months is a very long time for no cancellation.

You can book the flexi rate and have a look nearer the time to see if the cheaper rate is available. You will need to book the cheaper rate as a brand new booking , then cancel your flexi booking.
But I would still recommend travel insurance to cover any eventuality- that's what it is for.

The no cancellation deal is a chance you take that’s why it’s so cheap. It’s how the deal works it’s bit about showing sympathy.
You need your own holiday insurance if you are worried about having to cancel.
It’s unlikely you’ll be able to change to the cheaper rate later there are a limited number of them and other people will buy them. The best you could hope for is to book the one you can cancel and hope that there are still cheaper ones available later on so you can cancel and rebook.

You can't swap rate types and they won't refund you if you book the cheap rate, you need to get travel insurance instead.

Georgie 😅

Technically OP you could cancel your flexi pay booking and make a new no refunds booking. You can expect the no cancellation rate to increase though, like train seats sometimes

I'll look into the travel insurance.

Good to know they aren't completely inflexible, but I'm not a regular customer.

Might also ask them about the switch. I imagine a month before the stay, the £200 saving would be less, but still worth it. The problem with that would be if they didn't let me switch i run the risk of there being no rooms left to book.

You can book the flexi rate and have a look nearer the time to see if the cheaper rate is available. You will need to book the cheaper rate as a brand new booking , then cancel your flexi booking.
But I would still recommend travel insurance to cover any eventuality- that's what it is for.

Ooh - that's a good idea

Cross posts there with some of you. Sorry. Got side tracked.

Thanks!

Speak with insurers before buying a policy as you may not be covered in the circumstances you outlawed ne. Travel insurers were v helpful when I had queries in this regard before purchasing. Thanks to their transparency, I was able not to waste the cost of insurance premium for a policy that wouldn't have responded

You can’t book the flex now and then phone them a month before and change it too non-cancellation, they don’t work like that. You would have to phone and cancel the flex and then try and rebook a non-cancellation room but there is no guarantee you’ll be able to.

Yes Ariadne, I will do.

Thanks.

Just remember for some unfathomable reason Premier Inn don't allowed you to open windows and the internal system doesn't work well enough to keep the room smelling fresh.

I really like Premier Inn, we book them regularly but 2 nights with no fresh air is my maximum.

1- yes, my mum, when she accidentally booked too many rooms. She couldn’t do it.

2- there is no reason why you can’t cancel your flexi booking at anytime, and rebook. I suppose you are taking a chance on the rooms being re-released immediately and 2- the prices still bring lower than the flexi rates are now.

mum - I think that's what posters are suggesting

I've done this before with Premier Inn, book the flexible more expensive rate now and just keep an eye on it over the coming months. Flexible rate is one click cancellation so that's no hassle . Of course there is a danger that the non flexible rate won't be available or will be more expensive nearer the stay date, but outside the school holidays it's worth a punt.

We stayed with PI recently, two nights booked, first night fine but we cancelled 2nd night due to family illness, PI offered to refund, we didn't even ask cos I thought it was cheeky to ask to refund a no cancellation deal we were very grateful!

Good to know knitting

Aridane I realise that’s what others were suggesting, but the OP seemed to be saying she’d phone them up and ask about switching a month before, which Premier Inn are obviously not going to be happy to do.

Mum I wasn't going to ring them with a month to go. I was going to speak to them before I book anything.

Depending on the nature of the family illnesses, I wouldn't rely on travel insurance paying out if the worst happens and stops you travelling.

They would probably expected to be told about illness of anyone close to you and then would charge accordingly or not offer cover.

Your choice is simply to book the non flexible rate and take a risk, or book the flexible rate and pay more, but there is always a chance that you could cancel and book a cheap rate later on when things are possilby more certain.

Something else that's worth a try is looking at the individual room rates on different days. If there is varying demand on the weekend vs weekday, or around an event in the area, some days might have much smaller gaps between the flexible rate and the non flexible rate, so you might be able to make more than one booking, some on flexible and some on non flexible, so you get some days on a flexible rate that you can cancel if you need to, without paying the full £200 extra.

Also, don't pay for breakfast if you want it until you do travel, if it's non refundable.