Surprise hotel cancellations in Buffalo, New York, darkened dozens of visitors’ eclipse-viewing plans, ending their stays in one of the prime viewing spots for the April 8 solar eclipse before they even began. Multiple would-be guests told WIVB that their plans to stay at Buffalo’s Aloft hotel were abruptly canceled just one week before their planned trip due to overbooking by travel agencies and third-party sites like Booking.com. Some of the travelers had made their reservations up to two years before the planned visit, when they first learned that Buffalo would be in the path of the eclipse, a New Jersey travel agency said. Patricia Paterson, who planned a reunion with her siblings around the eclipse, described the cancellation as “infuriating” and suspected the hotel was trying to price-gouge because of the unusual tourism boost. “They can make a big buck for what they’re charging for one night about what we had booked for a three night stay,” she said.
