Hotels have assumed a hard line when enforcing their new policies. Taking a page from the airline industry's post-9/11 "no waivers, no favors" playbook, some refuse to bend a rule even when a guest can't make it for reasons beyond his control. "Hotel cancellation policies have been getting more strict than they used to be," says Bjorn Hanson, a professor of hospitality and tourism management at New York University. The changes vary by market and hotel. At some properties, you can still cancel your room by 6 p.m. on the date of your arrival without getting charged, but in some parts of the country, the cancellation window is being pushed back to within 48 or 72 hours of your arrival, Hanson says.

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