Since joining forces with Selfbook in March 2022, downtown New York City-based 11 Howard has seen an improvement in metrics across the board, from conversion to revenue. Now, the hotel has further elevated its online direct booking experience with a new feature available to hotels using Selfbook Direct: Flexible Cancellation.
Flexible Cancellation is a game-changer for hotels looking to benefit from one of the downsides to hospitality that has always affected the industry: cancellations. While hotels have long had to deal with unpredictable cancellations, which result in discounted rates to capture last-minute bookings, Flexible Cancellation flips the hotel cancellation predicament on its head.
38%
adoption rate
70%
fewer cancellations
12%
conversion rate growth
By commoditizing the cancellation policy and allowing guests to purchase the policy that best fits their needs, Flexible Cancellation has proven to reduce cancellations, increase conversion and generate a new revenue stream from bookings that are canceled.
How it Works
With Flexible Cancellation, hotels like 11 Howard can enable their guests to modify their booking flexibility for both non-refundable and refundable rate plans.
When guests have initially selected a non-refundable rate, they can pay a fee to add a protected cancellation window to their booking.
For refundable rate plans, guests can elect to pay a small fee and shorten their protected cancellation window to receive a discount on their room rate, resulting in savings for the guest.
In both cases, the hotel collects the fee for cancellations made within the protected window.
Rapid Adoption
Guests have been quick to adopt the flexibility and enhanced cancellation protection options offered by this new feature. When presented with the option to select Flexible Cancellation at 11 Howard, 38% of guests elect to add it to their booking. This accounts for 17% of all direct web bookings at the hotel.
Decrease in Cancellations
Since 11 Howard embraced Flexible Cancellation in July 2023, cancellations have already decreased significantly. The average cancellation rate at the hotel is 18%, but for Flexible Cancellation bookings, it is 5% thanks to enhanced choices for the guest.
Increase in Conversion Rates
By giving guests the opportunity to receive a discount in return for shortening their cancellation window with Flexible Cancellation, 11 Howard has seen an increase in conversion.
When Flexible Cancellation is displayed to a guest during the booking journey, conversion rates reach 28.5%. When the guest is not presented with the option for Flexible Cancellation, conversion rates are at 17.86%.
“We’re excited to see such great performance with one of our first launch partners, showing that Flexible Cancellation can improve conversion rates, reduce cancellation rates, and create a new revenue stream on canceled bookings, ” said Aaron Serrato, VP of Sales at Selfbook.
“With Flexible Cancellation, we have been able to transform the unpredictability and revenue loss that are inherent to cancellations,” said Kim Sparks, Director of Revenue at 11 Howard. “Now, we have been able to turn them into a product that guests want and something that we can finally benefit from: a new source of revenue, a conversion driver and a tool to minimize cancellations.”
Interested in finding out how Flexible Cancellation can benefit your hotel? Find out more here.
Start monetizing cancellations today