Answers about tracking a hotel price before and after you book. Each answer links to the page with the details.
What happens if a hotel price drops after I’ve already booked?
Nothing changes automatically: your booking keeps the price you paid. If your rate has free cancellation, you can book the same stay again at the lower price and then cancel the original booking, as long as the cancellation deadline has not passed. Hotel Tracker checks your stay once a day and emails you when the price falls below your target, so you know when that moment comes.
More: What happens after a price-drop alert? · Cancel and rebook
Can I get a refund from the booking site if the price drops after I book?
Not from the same site. Booking.com’s price match and the hotel chains’ best-rate guarantees only cover a lower price on a different website, and the chains usually want the claim within 24 hours of booking. Expedia and Hotels.com ended their price guarantee on 28 July 2026. The route that works is cancel and rebook on a free-cancellation rate.
More: Price drop rules by booking site and hotel chain
Which hotel bookings are worth tracking?
Bookings with free cancellation. Only then can you use a lower price without paying a fee. It does not matter where you booked: Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, another booking site or directly with the hotel.
More: Which bookings can be tracked?
Are price alerts useful for non-refundable bookings?
Rarely for that booking: cancelling a non-refundable or prepaid rate costs you the full amount, so a lower price cannot help for that stay. Alerts are useful before you book, to see whether the rate still moves, and they are a good reason to choose a flexible rate next time.
More: Free cancellation vs non-refundable
How do hotel price alerts notify me?
By email from info@hotel-tracker.com. Hotel Tracker checks the current rate for your exact stay once a day. If it is below your target, you get one email with the new rate and a booking link. If it is not, you get nothing, unless you chose a daily email with the current price.
More: How often are prices checked?
How often does Hotel Tracker check the price?
Once a day, on every plan: Free, Gold and Platinum. Hotel rates move from day to day, not from minute to minute, so a daily check catches the drops that matter.
More: How often are prices checked?
Does Hotel Tracker rebook automatically?
No. Hotel Tracker never cancels or rebooks for you. The alert gives you the new rate and a booking link; you check your cancellation terms and decide yourself whether to cancel and rebook.
More: What happens after a price-drop alert?
Do I have to forward my booking confirmation?
No. You type in the hotel, your dates, the number of guests and your target price or the price you paid. No confirmation email is forwarded and no booking account is linked.
More: How it works
Can I track one specific hotel?
Yes. Any hotel you can find on Google Hotels can be tracked. The tracker follows that exact stay: same hotel, same dates, same number of guests.
More: How it works
Where do the prices come from?
From Google Hotels metasearch data, accessed through a search API. Small differences to a booking site are normal because of taxes, fees and currency. The binding price is always the one shown by the booking provider when you book.
More: Where do hotel prices come from?
Does tracking stop after the first alert?
No. The tracker keeps checking after an alert, so if the rate falls further before your stay, you hear about that too. You can edit, pause or delete a tracker at any time.
More: What happens after a price-drop alert?
How long before check-in should I keep watching the price?
Until your free-cancellation deadline. After that, a lower price can no longer be used without a fee. The deadline is in your booking confirmation.
More: Cancel and rebook
Can I check once whether my hotel price has dropped, without an account?
Yes. Enter your stay and the price you paid, and Hotel Tracker runs one free live check on Google Hotels and shows whether the rate has dropped. No sign-up needed.
More: Did my hotel price drop?
What does Hotel Tracker cost?
The Free plan is free for 3 months with no credit card: 1 tracker at a time, one price check per day, email alerts. Gold costs $42 a year for 3 trackers at a time, Platinum $99 a year for 10. After the 3 free months your account and trackers stay, but price checks pause until you upgrade.
More: Pricing
How does Hotel Tracker make money?
From the paid plans and from an affiliate commission when you book through one of its links. The booking site pays the commission, not you; the price you see is the same either way.
More: What is the Stay22 booking link?
Travel questions
There is a travel warning for the country where I change planes. Can I change or cancel my flight for free?
A government travel advisory does not by itself give you the right to cancel for free. What matters is what your airline offers. When a situation affects an airport or region, airlines often publish a travel waiver: you can then change dates or routing without a change fee, and sometimes get a refund. Check the travel alerts page of the airline that operates your flight, and read your government’s official advice for the transit country (for example the U.S. State Department or your foreign ministry). If the airline itself cancels the flight, the usual passenger rights apply, such as a refund or rerouting. Travel insurance often excludes events that were already known when you bought the policy, so check the wording before you rely on it.
Your hotel: while your route is uncertain, keep hotel bookings on rates with free cancellation. If you have to rebook the flight, you can move the hotel without paying for a night you won’t use.
More: Cancel and rebook a hotel
How do I know if an upgrade offer is a good deal?
Compare three numbers: the upgrade price, the price difference between the two cabins if you booked them today, and what the same upgrade would cost in miles. An upgrade often pays off on a long night flight, where a flat bed means you arrive rested, and rarely on a short day flight. Before you accept, check whether the upgraded ticket still earns miles and status at the original rate, and whether the offer changes your fare rules. The same check works for hotel rooms: if you know what the room normally costs, you can tell a real deal from a discount that only looks like one.
More: Hotel Tracker
Does a business class ticket always include lounge access?
Usually, but not always. On long-haul flights, business and first class tickets normally include the airline’s own lounge on departure, and partner lounges within the same alliance. The common exceptions: first class on short domestic flights, especially in the US, often comes without lounge access; arrival lounges are limited to certain routes; and some lounges only admit you within a few hours of departure. Check the lounge page of the airline that operates your flight before you travel. If your connection runs overnight, a transit or airport hotel booked with free cancellation keeps your options open if the flight changes.
More: How it works
My connecting flight was cancelled and I have to stay overnight. Who pays for the hotel?
On flights covered by EU rule 261/2004, the airline must offer a hotel and transport to and from it when an overnight stay becomes necessary, whatever the reason for the cancellation. Ask at the transfer desk first. If you book a hotel yourself, keep the receipt and claim reasonable costs back. Outside the EU, it depends on the airline’s own policy, so ask before you book. Choose a room with free cancellation: if your flight is rebooked again, you cancel at no cost.
More: Cancel and rebook a hotel
Why does changing my flight by one day cost so much?
When you change a ticket yourself, the airline prices the new flight at today’s fare. You pay the difference to what you paid, plus a change fee if your fare rules include one. If the cheaper booking class you originally bought is sold out on the new date, the next class up sets the price, even when seats are still free. Flexible fares cost more at booking and less to change. EU rule 261/2004 does not help here, because it covers cancellations, delays and denied boarding, not changes you ask for. On flights to or from the US booked at least a week ahead, airlines must either hold the fare for 24 hours or let you cancel free of charge within 24 hours of booking. If your travel dates move, your hotel booking moves too: with free cancellation, you can rebook the room for the new dates and keep watching the price.
More: Cancel and rebook a hotel
Is a hotel worth it on a long layover?
It depends on the hours and on the airport. For a few hours, the lounge is often enough if your ticket, status or card gets you in. For longer waits, some airports have day rooms or a hotel inside the transit area, so you can sleep without passing immigration. For an overnight connection, check first whether you need a visa to leave the airport. Then compare hotels near the airport, because room prices can change from day to day. Book a rate with free cancellation and let a price tracker watch it: if the same room gets cheaper before you fly, you can rebook.
More: Track a hotel price
What can I claim if my flight is downgraded or my schedule changes?
It depends on where you fly. EU rule 261/2004 covers flights departing from the EU or Switzerland, and flights into them on an EU or Swiss airline. If you are downgraded, the airline must refund 30, 50 or 75 percent of the price of that flight within seven days, depending on distance. If the airline cancels your flight (a large schedule change can count as a cancellation), you choose between a full refund and an alternative flight. Compensation of €250 to €600 may also be due, unless you were told at least 14 days before departure or extraordinary circumstances caused it. In the US, DOT rules give you a refund if the airline significantly changes your flight, for example by 3 hours or more on a domestic trip or 6 hours or more on an international one, and you decide not to travel. If you are downgraded and still fly, the airline must refund the fare difference. Keep your boarding pass, screenshots of the old and new booking and every airline email, and make your claim in writing.
Your hotel: a new arrival time can shift your first night. If your booking has free cancellation, change it before the deadline instead of paying for a night you miss.
More: Cancel and rebook a hotel
Is it better to book business class early or wait for a deal?
There is no fixed best day. Cash fares move with demand and airline sales, and award seats for miles come and go, so guessing rarely works. Decide on a price you are happy to pay, set a fare alert for your route and dates, and book when the fare reaches it. If you book early, choose a fare you can change or cancel, so a later sale is still useful to you. Hotels work the same way, because rates also move after you book. Book a rate with free cancellation and set your target price in Hotel Tracker: it checks the rate once a day and emails you when it falls below your target, so you can rebook before your cancellation deadline.
More: Cancel and rebook a hotel
First business class flight: what should I know?
Look at the seat map before you pick a seat: on some aircraft every business seat has direct aisle access, on others the window seats do not. Many long-haul airlines let you pre-order your main course a few days before departure, usually in the manage-booking section of their website. Check your baggage allowance, which is often higher than in economy, and whether your ticket includes the lounge at your departure airport. On a night flight, eating before boarding leaves more time to sleep. For the stay at the other end, book a hotel rate with free cancellation and let Hotel Tracker check it once a day: if the room gets cheaper before you travel, you can rebook at the lower price.
More: How it works