One nasty thing about hotels nowadays is that they tend to overbook. The only thing that guarantees your reservation 100% is if you opt for those VIP suites. But for the rest of us common people, we don’t. And that can make us pretty much helpless victims of overbooking. But here are some ideas on how to make sure those snotty hotels honor your booking.

If you are traveling via a travel agent, make sure that you get a hotel confirmation number from them. Don’t rely on those vouchers given by travel agents. Most of the time these aren’t official documents from the hotel but merely recommendations and endorsements coming from the travel agency. So to be sure to have your reservation honored, get a confirmation number.

However, the best way to assure this is to pay the hotel in advance. Most hotels allow you to make reservations and pay in advance through their websites or even through phone. The most common way is to pay via credit cards.

Now what if the hotel fails to acknowledge your paid-for reservation. Raise hell! You’re now a paying customer and they need to honor that. If the front desk tells you that you still have to be booked, ask for the manager. Your confirmation number and payment receipt should be able to work its magic with them.

However, one of the dangers of paying for a reservation is if you have to cancel it. Some hotels might only reimburse you a fraction of what you’ve already paid for canceled reservation. So be sure to phone a bit earlier to cancel your booking. Most hotels would honor a minimum of two days before the reserved date.