Attrition Waiver in Hotel RFPs (Plain English Definition + Examples)

Definition

An attrition waiver is the hotel's written agreement to forgive some or all attrition fees after the event — usually granted when the hotel resold the unsold rooms, the event proceeded with strong F&B spend, or the planner has a multi-event relationship.

In European MICE sourcing, attrition waiver sits inside a broader workflow that includes the brief, the longlist, the shortlist, the contract negotiation, and the post-event reconciliation. Understanding it in isolation is not enough — what matters is how it interacts with the other levers a planner can pull. The definition above is the textbook version; the sections below explain how it actually behaves in real RFPs.

Why Attrition Waiver matters

Attrition waivers are almost never automatic — you have to ask. Hotels grant them in roughly 40-60% of cases for repeat planners, especially when the room compression context shifted (the hotel filled anyway, so there was no real lost revenue). The ask: a brief, friendly email to the sales manager 2-3 weeks post-event, citing F&B over-delivery and asking for goodwill consideration.

Example

Event: 84% pickup, 90% attrition threshold, attrition fee due €1,890. Planner emails sales manager: 'We over-delivered F&B by 18%, and I noticed your inventory was sold-out on event nights. Would you consider waiving the attrition? Happy to commit to Q3 RFP.' Hotel waives €1,890. Cost: a quarterly RFP commitment that planner would have made anyway.

Where Attrition Waiver appears in contracts

Attrition waiver isn't in the original contract — it's a post-event goodwill ask. Some planners include 'hotel will reasonably consider attrition waiver if rooms were resold' in the contract, but this is hard to enforce.

Related terms

Deeper reading