My $90 hostel booking crumbled after midnight, now I call ahead

Booked a bed in Lisbon through a discount site, showed up at 11:30 PM and the front desk said they oversold and gave my spot away. No refund, no backup room, just a shrug and a phone number for another place 20 minutes away. That cab ran me $25 and the new place charged double. Now I always call the hostel directly the afternoon of my stay to confirm, even if it costs a few bucks in roaming fees. Has anyone else had a budget booking fall through like this, and do you trust the third party sites at all anymore?

1 comments

1 Comment

grace4192h ago

Overselling is such a scam, right? I had a similar thing happen in Barcelona but with a tour, not a hostel. Booked a tapas walk through some app, showed up at the meeting point, and the guide just... didn't exist. Another group told me the company went belly up that morning (which, wild). Spent the night arguing with my bank instead of eating jamon, and now I'm the person who triple-checks every confirmation email like a crazy person. Calling ahead is smart, the cab ride alone would've made me lose it.