These Kinds Of Hotel Guests Are Most Likely To Get 'Walked'

One of the worst air travel issues is showing up for a flight only to find it's been overbooked and you've been bumped. Unfortunately, this practice isn't only limited to flying. Hotels, too, are known to overbook and turn away guests once they've reached maximum occupancy. When it comes to hotels, this frustrating situation is referred to as getting "walked," as in, "Sorry, we don't have room for you here, so head outside and walk to another accommodation." Thankfully, you're not entirely on your own once a hotel removes you from its reservations list. Typically, the hotel will find a comparable room for you at a nearby property so you have a place to stay.

Certain people are especially vulnerable to getting walked, including travelers who've only booked a hotel for a single night. These guests are usually much easier to move to another hotel, compared to guests who booked multiple nights. Additionally, travelers who have been deemed by the hotel management as unlikely to visit again might be selected first for getting booted, compared to frequent visitors or guests who have elite status with the hotel.

If you get to your hotel and it's overbooked, it's reasonable to feel stressed about being told to relocate to another hotel. Even more frustrating, though, is finding out that some hotels intentionally overbook to maximize profits and cope with no-shows. The legality of accepting more reservations than can possibly be fulfilled might appear dubious, but in many places, hotels are free to overbook and cancel guests' reservations as needed.

The common procedure during these situations is for the hotel to cover the costs of the replacement hotel, though even this isn't legally required. What you are entitled to is your money back, in the event that you already paid for the reservation. Beyond that, each hotel has its own process when handling "walked" guests, which may or may not include additional perks. Note that, in general, it's rare to receive compensation, but contacting the hotel after to explain the trouble you encountered could earn you a free night's stay in the future or other rewards.

If you only plan to stay one night in a hotel and don't have elite status or another loyalty membership that may offer protection, there are a few steps you can take that could reduce your chances of being turned away at hotel reception. First, consider the best tip for booking a hotel room: Go directly to the hotel's website, not a third-party platform. This may make you less vulnerable to getting walked when you show up for check-in.

When searching for hotels, it also pays to look in less competitive neighborhoods, as areas with higher demand are more likely to have overbooked hotels. Rummy Pandit, the executive director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality, and Tourism at Stockton University, also told The New York Times that you may encounter over-capacity bookings in "large cities with higher number of year-round peak occupancy days." That doesn't mean you have to change your vacation destination, but you may want to take other precautions, such as booking more than a single night in a hotel, to sidestep potential problems.

Finally, try to check in close to the beginning of the check-in window. Guests who check in late in the day may discover that their room was already given to another traveler, forcing them to switch hotels. If you can't arrive early in person, call the hotel or see if the property offers digital check-in instead.