QUESTION: Bookings and cancellations: how to avoid overbooking and check-in problems?

Overbooking and problems with hotel check-in or flight boarding are unpleasant situations that any traveler may face, regardless of the hotel level and the airline's reliability. To minimize such risks, it is recommended to always have a clear and well-thought-out action plan in case of unforeseen failures even at the preparation stage for the trip. Having a pre-thought-out Plan B allows you to act with confidence, saves your nerves, and significantly reduces the time spent solving logistical problems in a foreign country.

The main rule of protection against overbooking is to prepare a reliable backup fund of options even before the start of the journey. For each key stage of your trip, keep two or three alternatives in reserve, whether they are backup flights, alternative hotels in the same area, or backup public transport route options. If the main hotel reports a lack of vacant rooms upon arrival due to reselling, you will be able to instantly offer the administrator or guide a list of similar accommodation facilities that you have already selected.

An additional effective tool for preventing check-in problems is preliminary communication with the receiving party. A day before arrival, be sure to send a short message to the hotel or apartment confirming the time of your arrival and contact numbers. If you know that you will arrive late at night, direct notification of a late check-in will insure you against the automatic cancellation of the booking by a hotel that might mistakenly consider you a no-show guest.