Free Cancellation? Reading the Small Print in a Hotel Confirmation
A candidate is practising a MATSEC SEC German reading task with a hotel confirmation. The text says: 'Ihr Zimmer ist ab 15:00 Uhr bezugsfertig. Kostenfreie Stornierung bis 48 Stunden vor Anreise, jedoch nur bei Buchungen über unsere Website. Bei Buchungen über Partnerportale gilt die dortige Regelung. Die Kurtaxe von 3,50 € pro Nacht ist vor Ort zu zahlen. Bei Anreise nach 18:00 Uhr bitten wir um telefonische Mitteilung.' The candidate booked through a partner portal, plans to arrive at 19:30, and stays two nights. Their answers: (1) 'Cancellation is free until 48 hours before arrival.' (2) 'The tourist tax is included.' They justify (1) by pointing to 'kostenfreie Stornierung' and (2) by saying '3,50 € is a small amount, so it must be included.' They ignore 'jedoch nur' and 'vor Ort'. The task asks for true/false/not stated, with justification.
1. For each answer, decide whether it is correct, incorrect or not stated, and explain the textual evidence.
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Answer (1) is incomplete and, for this booking, cannot be marked simply true. The hotel does offer 'kostenfreie Stornierung bis 48 Stunden vor Anreise', but the next words are 'jedoch nur bei Buchungen über unsere Website'. The candidate booked through a partner portal, and the text says 'Bei Buchungen über Partnerportale gilt die dortige Regelung'. So the free-cancellation condition does not automatically apply; the partner portal's rules apply, and those are not given. If the item asks 'The candidate can cancel free of charge', the safe answer is 'not stated' or 'false for this booking', with the channel condition quoted.
Answer (2) is false. 'Die Kurtaxe von 3,50 € pro Nacht ist vor Ort zu zahlen' means the tax is paid on site, not included. For two nights the candidate should expect 7,00 €. The amount being small is not evidence; the phrase 'vor Ort zu zahlen' is decisive.
2. What does 'bei Anreise nach 18:00 Uhr bitten wir um telefonische Mitteilung' require the candidate to do, and why is this not a cancellation issue?
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The candidate arrives at 19:30, which is after 18:00, so the hotel asks them to telephone in advance. This is an arrival notification, not a request to cancel or rebook. It allows the hotel to arrange reception or key collection. The text does not say there is a fee for late arrival, so the candidate should not invent one; nor should they assume the booking is cancelled if they do not call.
The practical action is to call before arrival, state the booking name and expected time, and note whether the hotel confirms. This is an inference task: the candidate must connect 19:30 with 'nach 18:00' and understand 'Mitteilung' as notification, not cancellation.
3. Identify two reading strategies the candidate should use to avoid these errors, using the exact words from the text.
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First, read the whole condition around contrast markers. The candidate stopped at 'kostenfreie Stornierung' and missed 'jedoch nur bei Buchungen über unsere Website'. A useful routine is to bracket the headline promise and then read to the end of the sentence, especially after 'jedoch', 'nur', 'bei' and 'gilt'.
Second, distinguish payment and inclusion words. 'Vor Ort zu zahlen' is the opposite of 'inklusive' or 'im Preis enthalten'. The candidate inferred inclusion from the small amount, which is not textual evidence. A third check is to identify the booking channel before applying any headline term: the phrase 'Bei Buchungen über Partnerportale gilt die dortige Regelung' changes which cancellation rule applies. These strategies are transferable to other hotel, ticket and booking texts.