Had the same thing happen last month. Got into DTW way late, had less than the normal 12 hrs for contract to go downtown, which we were scheduled for. Called crew accommodations, she wouldn't even look at openings, just immediately said flat out "No, we're not supposed to do that." When I mentioned that in the past if there were unfilled bookings we were already paying for anyways, so it wouldn't cost the company any $$, we were able to switch when flights got in late, she just said "Not anymore, not allowed".

sailing, you said "if it was unbooked"...I almost never see that, the hotel seems to always be booked as part of the original bidpack. Is this something you see more in international or ER stuff? When would it be unbooked on a front end DH? I'm considering bidding some, and don't want to get stuck at SEA with no trans downtown and unable to use airport hotel pre-redeye.
Thx