Hotel room resale websites catching on

New York

IN March, Alysa Turner, a publicist from Washington, booked a hotel room through Southwest Airlines' rewards programme. She paid US$400 for a one-night stay at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, but her plans changed after the window for cancelling the reservation had closed.

Not wanting to be out the money, she found a hotel room resale website called Roomer Travel. With little to lose, Ms Turner listed her hotel room for US$350 only 36 hours before check-in. "It was a last-ditch effort," she said.