The short answer

For a U.S. credit-card dispute, check the first statement that showed the hotel charge. If the problem is a qualifying billing error, your written notice generally must reach the card issuer within 60 days after that statement was sent. The Federal Trade Commission's billing-error guidance explains the basic process.

You may also hear about a 120-day chargeback deadline. That usually refers to a card-network or issuer process, not one universal legal deadline. The network, dispute category, and event that starts the clock can change the result. A hotel cancellation, a missing refund, a duplicate charge, and fraud may not use the same date.

PayPal, debit cards, ACH payments, and wire transfers use different procedures. Do not apply the 60-day credit-card rule or a 120-day network estimate without checking the payment method.

When a deadline is approaching, open the case with the issuer immediately. Contacting the hotel first does not pause or extend the issuer's deadline.

Hotel chargeback deadlines at a glance

The date shown by your card issuer or payment platform controls your case. Submit evidence before that date rather than waiting until the last day.

Why both 60 days and 120 days appear

They belong to different systems.

The 60-day period is the written-notice process under the federal Fair Credit Billing Act for qualifying credit-card billing errors. The issuer generally must acknowledge a timely dispute in writing within 30 days, unless it has already resolved the issue. It normally must complete its investigation within two billing cycles and no more than 90 days.

For a timely, qualifying dispute, you generally do not have to pay the disputed amount or related finance charges while the issuer investigates. Keep paying the part of the statement that you do not dispute, and follow the issuer's instructions.

The 120-day period usually comes from a card-network or issuer workflow. It may apply to claims involving fraud, an incorrect amount, a service that was not provided, or a refund that never posted. Network rules can use different starting dates and can set shorter periods for some categories.

A late FCBA notice may no longer receive the specific protections of that process. The issuer might still review the matter under a network rule or its own policy, but it doesn't have to accept it just because the charge is less than 120 days old. The reverse is also possible: a claim can be within 60 days but fail because the hotel charged a clearly disclosed cancellation or no-show fee.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and PayPal

Consumers usually start with the bank that issued the card, not Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover. The issuer classifies the claim, opens the dispute, and tells you how long you have to provide information.

Many card disputes are handled through workflows that allow roughly 120 days, but that figure is only a starting point. The relevant rules can count from:

• The transaction or processing date.
• The date the stay was supposed to occur.
• The cancellation date.
• The date a refund was promised.
• Another event specified by the dispute category.

Ask the issuer which category it is using and what date counts as day one. Its message, app, or case notice is more useful than a general internet chart.

PayPal has its own buyer-protection and account procedures. The deadline shown in the current Resolution Center or the terms that apply to the transaction should control your next step. Claims that PayPal always gives 180 days, or that every case can remain open for 540 days, are not a reliable answer for every hotel booking.

If you paid through PayPal with a credit card, ask which process applies before opening duplicate cases. PayPal and the card issuer may have separate procedures, but you should not seek two recoveries for the same charge.

When does the hotel dispute clock start?

There is no single start date for every hotel complaint. The possible trigger depends on what went wrong:

• First statement date: This is the key date for the 60-day FCBA written-notice process.
• Transaction or processing date: This commonly matters for fraud, duplicate processing, and incorrect-amount claims.
• Scheduled stay date: A service-not-provided claim may be assessed against the date the stay should have occurred.
• Cancellation date: This may matter when the hotel or booking agency canceled the reservation.
• Refund-promise date: A missing-credit claim may use the date the merchant agreed to issue the refund.
• Fraud discovery or reporting date: Report suspected unauthorized activity immediately, even if the issuer later uses another date for its formal deadline.

Hotel checkout is not automatically the date that starts the clock. When you contact the issuer, ask:

1. Which dispute category applies?
2. What date is day one?
3. Must the notice be received by the deadline, or is submitting it by then enough?

Write down the answer, the case number, and any document-upload deadline.

Which hotel problems may support a dispute?

A no-show or late-cancellation fee

A chargeback is not a general right to cancel a hotel room. If the booking clearly displayed a nonrefundable or no-show fee and you accepted those terms, the charge may be valid even if you did not use the room.

The facts are different if:

• The cancellation terms were not clearly shown at checkout.
• The hotel or booking agency canceled the reservation.
• The property could not provide the room.
• You canceled within the permitted period but were charged anyway.
• The fee is higher than the amount disclosed.
• The charge was duplicated or made to the wrong card.

Keep the confirmation page and the terms shown when you booked. A policy page viewed today may not show the terms that applied to your reservation.

The hotel canceled or never provided the stay

Ask the hotel or online travel agency for the refund in writing. Save the cancellation notice, the refund promise, and records of any replacement booking or additional expense.

If the merchant refuses to return money for a stay it canceled or could not provide, file the issuer dispute before the earliest deadline that might apply. Describe the particular failure: for example, “the property canceled the reservation and promised a refund,” rather than simply saying that you were dissatisfied.

A promised refund never appeared

Collect these items:

• The merchant's refund confirmation.
• The promised credit date and amount.
• The statement showing the original charge.
• A later statement showing that the credit is missing.
• Emails or chat messages with the hotel, agency, or payment platform.

A pending authorization or hotel card hold is not the same as a completed charge. Ask the property and issuer whether the hold will expire automatically and when. If it posts as a charge or remains beyond the release period the issuer gave you, ask how to dispute it.

An incorrect, duplicate, or unfamiliar amount

Compare the booking confirmation, final hotel folio, and card statement. State the amount you expected, the amount charged, and the exact difference.

An unfamiliar name on the statement may belong to the hotel group's parent company or an online travel agency. Identify the merchant descriptor before calling the transaction fraud. If you did not authorize the charge, report it to the issuer promptly anyway.

Poor service or a room that was not as advertised

A disappointing stay is not automatically a billing error. First give the hotel a reasonable opportunity to address the problem, unless the situation is fraudulent or your payment information is at risk.

Evidence is more useful when it connects the complaint to the amount charged. Keep the listing or room-description screenshots, photographs, the folio, dates of complaints made during the stay, and the hotel's response. A dispute is stronger when it shows that the service was materially different from what you purchased or that the hotel failed to provide an agreed remedy.

A fake hotel website or booking scam

Tell the card issuer immediately. Report the fake listing or website to the platform it impersonated, and preserve the receipt, emails, web address, and screenshots.

Do not wait for a platform or law-enforcement investigation before checking the card deadline. A wire transfer, ACH payment, or other bank transfer may not have a card-network chargeback option. Ask the bank at once whether a recall or separate payment-error procedure is available.

How to file the dispute

1. Identify the payment method and merchant

Look at the statement, not just the booking email. Determine whether the charge came from the hotel, an online travel agency, PayPal, or another booking service. The name on the statement helps the issuer connect the dispute to the right transaction.

2. Make a date list

Record the booking date, scheduled stay, cancellation date, merchant contacts, refund promise, statement date, and posting date. This simple list can reveal that the 60-day statement deadline is closer than the service date suggests.

3. Ask the merchant for a written resolution

For a normal billing problem, request the refund from the hotel or booking platform in writing. Include the amount, the reason, and what you want done. Keep the response, including a refusal.

Do not let that conversation consume the dispute period. Open the issuer case while the merchant is still reviewing the complaint if the deadline is near.

4. Gather only the evidence that fits the claim

Useful documents may include:

• Booking confirmation and cancellation terms.
• The statement showing the charge and merchant descriptor.
• Hotel folio, invoice, or receipt.
• Cancellation, refund, or no-show messages.
• Listing screenshots and photographs for a material service problem.
• Fraud reports, payment receipts, and website details for a scam.
• Proof that you tried to resolve the issue with the merchant.

Highlight the relevant dates and amounts. Do not attach a full card number or unrelated personal information.

5. Submit the case through the issuer

Use the issuer's app, website, or telephone process to start the case. If you are relying on the FCBA billing-error procedure, also send written notice to the billing-dispute address printed on the statement. That address may be different from the payment address.

A precise explanation is better than a broad accusation:

I dispute the $ charge from dated . The hotel canceled the reservation and promised a refund on . The credit has not appeared. Attached are the confirmation, cancellation notice, and statement.

Keep a copy of the letter, proof of delivery or upload, and the case number.

6. Track the investigation

Save every message from the issuer and note each response or appeal deadline. Ask whether any credit is provisional or final and when the written decision is expected.

If the issuer asks for more information, answer by the stated date. Continue paying the undisputed portion of the account while the investigation is open.

7. Challenge a denial promptly

Read the reason for the denial before sending more documents. The issuer may say that the charge matched the cancellation policy, the claim was late, there was no proof of contacting the merchant, or the hotel showed that the service was provided.

Ask for the next review or appeal deadline. Respond to the stated reason with the smallest, clearest set of documents that addresses it. If a timely written billing-error notice was not handled as required, keep copies of the notice and the issuer's correspondence for any later complaint or review.

What happens to the hotel or booking agency?

The hotel does not receive the consumer's 60-day FCBA period, and there is no single 120-day response period for every merchant. Its deadline comes from the acquiring bank, payment processor, or network notice. The response period may be much shorter than the time the consumer had to identify the problem.

That is why a hotel or agency may submit:

• The cancellation terms displayed at booking.
• Evidence that the guest accepted those terms.
• The reservation and no-show records.
• The refund date, amount, and transaction reference.
• Check-in records and an itemized folio.
• A clear statement descriptor tying the charge to the reservation.

For consumers, the practical point is simple: rely on the deadline in the issuer's notice, not on a merchant's estimate or a general online chart.

Questions consumers often ask

Can I file after 120 days?

You can still ask the issuer to review the transaction, particularly when the service date or refund promise occurred later. The issuer may have an exception or another process, but acceptance is not guaranteed. File as soon as you discover the problem and explain why it was reported late.

Is the real deadline 60 days or 120 days?

For a qualifying credit-card billing error under the FCBA written-notice process, use the 60-day period measured from the statement containing the error. Treat 120 days as a common network or issuer estimate for some eligible disputes, not as a universal promise. Check both and act by the earlier deadline that could apply.

Can I dispute a nonrefundable hotel booking?

Not simply because your plans changed. A dispute may make sense if the terms were not disclosed, the hotel canceled, the room was unavailable, the amount was wrong, or the merchant promised a refund and did not issue it.

Does an online travel agency change the process?

It can. Check which business appears on the statement and read the agency's booking terms. Contact the agency and the hotel when both are involved, but tell the issuer exactly which business charged you and what each party said.

What should I do today?

Find the first statement showing the charge. Save the booking terms, cancellation messages, folio, and refund records. Then contact the issuer and ask which dispute category and day-one date apply. If the charge may be unauthorized, report it immediately instead of waiting for the hotel or platform to respond.