How to Make a Last Minute Cancellation of a Travel Reservation with Orbitz, Hotwire or Expedia

You may think that if you use a consolidation service like Hotwire, Expedia or Orbitz for your travel reservations that you'll be out of luck when and if anything goes wrong. But when it comes to travel, always remember this, no matter how you spend your money, it's still your money. If you aren't satisfied with the product for good reason, you can get a refund or a replacement. Here are some things to know if something goes wrong with a prepaid travel reservation. The trick is basically the same across all services, with small differences here and there.

1. If your flight isn't what you expected...know that flights can be canceled and re-scheduled, but they are the most difficult reservations to change. However, if something doesn't feel right after you've boarded, flight attendants are usually more than willing to work with you. For example, sometimes a flight reservation through Hotwire, Expedia or Orbitz won't sit you with your party. Their job is to find you the cheapest seats, which means that if you purchase two seats, they might not be together. Know this in advance and don't be surprised by it.

However, if your plane isn't full after takeoff your flight attendants may allow you to move so you can sit together. The best way to get a flight attendant to allow you to change seats mid-flight is to be patient and polite. I once ended up in the very last row of the plane in the middle of a family with screaming children. (Not that I have anything against screaming children on planes, I usually feel the same way.) But my husband was sitting by himself in the middle of the plane in a row of three seats. I waited until a flight attendant was walking by instead of calling for one, told her I was sorry for asking because I didn't know the protocol, explained the situation and she immediately let me move seats.

2. If your hotel isn't what you expected...be prepared to give a very detailed reason as to why. Remember, the consolidation services you use to make reservations are what make the lower prices possible. (Though we're currently experiencing a backlash against these services in the press and entering a new era where you can call the hotel yourself and get the same deal, it just takes a lot more haggling.) These are discount services you're using, so you may be trading luxury for a lower price, for the service they offer which is basically doing your travel planning for you. Also, most hotels today use Photoshop to spice up pictures of their hotel, almost always the pool and spa areas. So there's always some difference between website images you might see on the internet and what you'll get in real life. Nevertheless, if you arrive and something is truly amiss, here's what to do.

Go to the front desk and ask for a replacement room for a very specific reason. (Maybe you needed two beds and they only gave you one or maybe something in your room is dirty.) If you can replace the room, go for it. If you encounter a deal breaker, you should follow a different procedure.

For example, we recently stayed in Tampa, Florida and booked a room using Orbitz. Admittedly, we went for one of the cheapest rates. When we arrived at our hotel, we did our usual bedbug check and for the first time in our entire traveling lives, we found one. I can't say for sure whether or not it was an actual bed bug in the true sense of the word, but it was a bug. In our bed. And that was enough for us. We didn't feel confident in the hotel at all after that, so we went to the front desk attendant, told them the story, and let them know we were checking out and finding another place. Whether or not we could get a refund at that point didn't matter to us, we just needed somewhere clean and safe.

If this happens to you, do the same. Don't risk bed bugs, your safety, or your health for any reason, no matter how steep the discount. Leave immediately, make sure that the hotel gives you documentation of your early check-out so they can't charge your card again the next day and explain very clearly why you are leaving. Immediately call the 1-800 number for whatever reservation service you used, the sooner you call the more likely they are to work with you. The operator will ask you why you left the hotel and then they will put you on hold while they call the hotel to confirm your reasons. If the two match up, they'll issue you a full refund the next business day.

3. If your rental car isn't up to snuff...the attendant behind the counter is going to be your new best friend. Usually, an equivalent car will be available for a similar price and often times the exact same price. Remember, rental car lots always have different varieties of cars coming and going twenty-four hours a day. If you simply can't take the car you reserved for some reason, say, not enough space for all of your guests or your luggage, you may even be allowed to bump up a quality level. But the rental car situation is the touchiest, because even the reservation services will provide you with plenty of detailed information about the car before you choose it. So technically, if you don't get the car you want, it's your fault. Your only option in this case is to be honest about your mistake and ask how they might be willing to work with you. Remember, hotels and car rental services are businesses, and they want to earn your repeat visits.

As I said, the key to handling a last minute change with your travel reservation service is two-fold, but operates on the same basic principle. Be polite to your service provider, even if they're in the wrong and be polite to the 1-800 operator on duty with Hotwire, Expedia or Orbitz. Usually when people are on vacation, when things go wrong they snap and make an immediate enemy out of a hotel clerk, a rental car attendant or a flight attendant. This is the worst mistake to make when something is going wrong. Stay friendly and respectful, form a quick action plan based on your priorities and march forward with a smile on your face.

In fact, when things go wrong, that's usually when the opportunity for adventure presents itself. After we left our Tampa hotel, we drove to Orlando to look for a middle of the night hotel deal and ended up on Disney property at two a.m., driving around in the full moonlight amidst tropical Florida foliage and perfectly manicured Disney resorts. It was lovely and we never would've seen it if our reservation hadn't gone awry. Try to look at reservation hang-ups as opportunities for the unexpected.