Clever travel hack that could help you avoid paying hotel fees if you cancel your booking less than 24 hours before check-in

Ever get frustrated over the airtight cancellation policies of hotels?

Well, a life-advice influencer now has the remedy for you.

Sharif Ceasar, who goes by the Instagram handle @realmelaninking, broke down his apparent life hack to avoid pricey fees if you ever needed to bow out of a hotel reservation at the last minute.

'Hotels do not want you to know this secret,' Sharif began.

Sharif Ceasar took to his social media platforms to reveal his apparent hack to get out of paying cancellation fees

He went on to reveal his strategy by acting out an imaginary conversation between a customer hoping to cancel their reservation and a hotel staffer.

'Good morning I like to cancel my hotel reservations,' Sharif, in character as a fictional traveler, said.

'Okay, no problem, but we have to charge a $300 cancellation fee since it's less than 24 hours before you booking,' Sharif, play acting as a front-desk person, answered.

'Man, you're tripping. I'm not paying $300,' the customer answered.

'That's hotel policy. There's nothing I can do about it,' the staffer responded.

'Okay, can I change my arrival date to next week instead?' the customer requested.

'Okay, no problem. I'll change it right now,' the staffer affirmed.

His role play then shows the fictional traveler calling back the next day. 

'I'd like to cancel my hotel reservations for next week,' the customer requested.

'No problem, sir. I'll get that processed and send you the refund,' the front-desk staffer responded.

In short: Sharif's advice is to request that the reservation be pushed far enough into the future, and then subsequently cancel that reservation, sans any cancellation fees 

'Wait a sec. Aren't you the same guy that called yesterday? How did you know how to get around our policy?' they continued.

'Oh, that's because I follow The Real Melanin King,' Sharif concluded the video in a self-plug.

So, in short, Sharif's hack is to try and push one's booking far enough into the future in order to avoid any last-minute cancellation fees when one eventually cancels the reservation.

In the comments section, some avid travelers have confirmed that Sharif's hack works. 

'Yes I've done that hotel cancelation a few times just by changing date,' one person wrote.

A former hotel worker also weighed in, saying: 'Can confirm the hotel cancellation one. Used to work as a front desk agent at a resort in Waikiki.'

Another person added: 'The hotel one also works for AirBnb! My trip was cancelled [because] of a hurricane, they wouldn't refund me so I switched the reservation to a later date. Then realized [because] the new trip date was like weeks away, the policy reset to reflect the new dates & I could cancel and get the full refund back.'

In the comments section, some avid travelers have confirmed that Sharif's hack works

Meanwhile a travel agent pointed out a small catch in Sharif's plan.

'If the original reservation is non refundable, whilst the date may, not always, be changed, the non refundable policy still stands. Trust me. I've tried,' they wrote.

On the other hand, former hotel workers were adamant the hack wouldn't work.  

One said: 'This hack does not work. Hotels have become very aware of this little scheme so they will not allow any modification, including a date change to prevent you from trying to get around hotel policy. 

'Third-party reservations are especially hard to cancel as they are normally non-changeable, non-cancelable and nonrefundable, and the process requires them to contact the hotel to get permission to modify or cancel the reservation every time which most of the time [it is] denied.'

Another added: 'Our hotel would inform customer that because they are moving booking 24 [hours], they won't be able to future cancel it again. 

'All the notes were put on the system and if there was a cancellation we used to go into customer history to check all the details before cancelling reservation, so it's not always going to work. Worth a try though!'

On the other hand, former hotel workers were adamant the hack wouldn't work

Last year, one person shared the same trick via Reddit, explaining: 'I always book with one of the cheapest hotel reservation options that charges you a night's stay or whatever if you cancel too late. 

'So instead of cancelling, some hotels will allow you to just change [or] modify the reservation to a later date or change the rate to a more expensive rate that allows for full refunds. 

'Make the change and then cancel the reservation with no cancellation fees.'

The Redditor noted that this hack only worked 'booking directly via the hotel and probably doesn't work everywhere, but is worth a try if you need to cancel.'

Sharif is hardly the first to take to social media to share various tips and tricks to aid more efficient travel.

DailyMail.com previously reported on a frequent flier's top tips, from avoiding hotel irons to using the shower steam to de-wrinkle your clothes.