2010 Worlds in Sweden

Another annoyance is the cancellation policy for hotels. I was all set to book tonight, but looked at the cancellation policy and got serious cold feet. It's a little too early to adhere to these rules: Cancellation Insurance To be able to cancel Your hotel reservation and other local reservations You made, you must have signed up for a cancellation Insurance at the time of Your reservation. The Cancellation Insurance guarantees You to be able to cancel the reservation (Hotel and tours) until the start of Masters2010 Conditions: - Cancellation latest 31 march 2010 - SEK 1000/room - Cancellation after 31 march 2010 up to arrival date - SEK 2000/room All You have ordered and paid will be refunded except above minimum costs and cost of the Cancellation Insurance We offer You this Cancellation insurance for only 495 SEK/room. General cancellation rules: For cancellations latest 30 sep 2009: No charge Cancellation rules after 30 sep 2009: Registrations - No refund Hotel and Tours - 20% charge of total hotel sum until 25 march 2010. - 50% charge of total hotel sum 26 march - 31 may 2010. - No guaranteed refund after 31 may 2010. Due to the cancellation conditions we strongly recommend our Cancellation Insurance for only SEK 495. So it appears that even if you pony up the nearly 500 kronor ($65 US) for the insurance you still incur a penalty even if you cancel before the end of March! I don't know if this kind of policy is typical in Europe or Sweden, but it seems awfully restrictive to me.

Another annoyance is the cancellation policy for hotels. I was all set to book tonight, but looked at the cancellation policy and got serious cold feet. It's a little too early to adhere to these rules: Cancellation Insurance To be able to cancel Your hotel reservation and other local reservations You made, you must have signed up for a cancellation Insurance at the time of Your reservation. The Cancellation Insurance guarantees You to be able to cancel the reservation (Hotel and tours) until the start of Masters2010 Conditions: - Cancellation latest 31 march 2010 - SEK 1000/room - Cancellation after 31 march 2010 up to arrival date - SEK 2000/room All You have ordered and paid will be refunded except above minimum costs and cost of the Cancellation Insurance We offer You this Cancellation insurance for only 495 SEK/room. General cancellation rules: For cancellations latest 30 sep 2009: No charge Cancellation rules after 30 sep 2009: Registrations - No refund Hotel and Tours - 20% charge of total hotel sum until 25 march 2010. - 50% charge of total hotel sum 26 march - 31 may 2010. - No guaranteed refund after 31 may 2010. Due to the cancellation conditions we strongly recommend our Cancellation Insurance for only SEK 495. So it appears that even if you pony up the nearly 500 kronor ($65 US) for the insurance you still incur a penalty even if you cancel before the end of March! I don't know if this kind of policy is typical in Europe or Sweden, but it seems awfully restrictive to me.