While many of us would love to travel more often and see the world, the cost associated with travelling may be limiting your ability to make your dream vacation a reality. While there is no one single secret to snagging a great hotel deal, there are plenty of tricks that can help you land a great rate.
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There are a lot of different costs to consider when it comes to planning our next getaway, however, the cost associated with accommodations will often eat up a significant amount of your budget. This will often lead us to write off those ‘dream locations’ as being out of our budget and therefore unattainable or settling for less than we originally wanted in our vacation – budget motels or shorter timelines, for example. If you’re willing to put a little work into searching for a deal, that dream vacation may still be within your reach!
I’m not promising some magic, instant solution, it’s going to take a little work on your part. However, if you’re willing to put the time and effort in, these tricks may score you significant savings!
Find The Best Hotel Deal With These 5 Simple Tricks:
#1 – Maximize Discounts and Rewards
There are a number of different ways you can leverage discounts and reward programs to help save some extra cash. Start by looking at programs and group that you are already a part of like CAA, as they often provide discounts with specific hotels and resorts.
If you regularly travel and like to stick with a specific chain of hotels, look into their loyalty program. Another option is to reassess the credit card that you are using to book your travels. There are some great credit cards that allow you to earn credit towards your hotel stays. These travel rewards are often geared towards a specific chain of hotels, much like the loyalty program.
Before you go signing up for a program or credit card, however, make sure that you take time to do your research. You want to look into any rules, stipulations, restrictions or requirements to ensure that they won’t impact your travel plans.
#2 – Try A Package Deal
Rather than focusing on just your hotel room, expand your search to include other aspects of your travel plans. Many companies will offer a deal if you are willing to package your airfare, accommodations and/or car rentals rather than booking these all separately.
There are two ways that you can approach finding this type of package deal – You can search for a good deal yourself using booking websites, or you can contact a travel agent to find out what packages they have available to them. The travel agent may be affiliated with a specific brand that will allow them to get you better rates, upgrades and more.
Make sure that you are also looking at the cost of these items individually, as a package deal may or may not be the best rate.
#3 – Look Past the Price
One of the biggest mistakes we make when trying to book a good hotel deal is to allow the price to drive our answer without really digging into it. Sure, there are some clear guidelines that you can generally count on…
If a room price is ridiculously low and seems to good to be true, it probably is. I’ve literally had the doorknob to my room fall off in my hand at a hotel once before. At the same time, if the price of a room is completely through the roof, it’s fair to say that the combination of ‘luxury’ and brand name probably isn’t going to fall under ‘hotel deals’. If you’re looking to splurge, go for it, but if you’re looking for a deal, you can cross these off your list.
However, if you’ve narrowed it down to a handful of rooms that are all rated similarly and in the same area, don’t take the price at face value. There are a few important details that could be influencing the overall price that may hit your trip budget! Take some time to look into what is included with your room rate – Does your hotel offer a complimentary breakfast? Do you have to pay for parking? These additional costs can quickly eclipse any savings in the room cost.
#4 – Last Minute Deals
#4 – Last Minute DealsWhether or not this trick will work for you will depend on whether you are the kind of person who needs to have everything planned in advance, or if you are comfortable going with the flow. When it gets down to the last minute, hotels will drop significant discounts in order to try to fill up rooms that will otherwise be sitting vacant. These deals are available not only directly through the hotel but also through a number of popular travel websites, like Expedia.
Another option is to use the website Roomer. There are times where someone books a non-refundable room, however, something comes up and they are no longer able to use it. Rather than finding themselves completely out the money, they can put the room up on this site for others to book at a reduced rate. It’s a win/win – The original guest that booked the room can recoup some of their money while the new guest is able to save money.
You need to be prepared, however, that this approach may not always work in your favour. If you find that there are no deals at the hotels you were interested in looking at, you may find yourself having to pay more for your accommodations or settling for a lower quality location.
#5 – Browse Daily Deal Sites
Sites like Groupon and LivingSocial offer some great travel deals if you keep an eye on them. The problem is that they move quickly, which means if you aren’t right on top of it you may miss out. If you want to find a killer hotel deal, be prepared to move fast!
I listed this as the last point for a specific reason – There will be times that the deals you see aren’t actually the best deal available to you. Using the first 4 tricks here, you may be able to secure a lower price on your own. Be sure to do your due diligence in advance, then start logging onto these sites regularly to catch the deals before they’re gone.
Have you ever managed to swing an incredible deal on a hotel stay? I’d love to hear your story in the comments, including any tricks I may have missed!
These are all such great tips, thank you I will definitely be using them! Xx
Thank you! I hope that they help you land a good deal on your next trip
Even though I have diamond status at Hilton, I always try to find the best deals for hotels. Love these tips! I’ll try to apply it in my next travels. Thanks for sharing!
Nancy ? exquisitely.me
It’s always good to check a few options and make sure you’re actually getting the best deal – after all, cheaper accommodations means you have more money for other parts of your trip! Thanks for reading
Wonderful Advice! Thank you for sharing ?
Thank you! I hope that it helps you score some great deals in the near future!
Great tips! We’ve gotten some great last minute deals on hotel rooms before. And I always browse multiple sites to compare prices.
If you’re able to wait, last minute deals are great! That’s what I try to do in most cases – we’re even talking about a last minute vacation package in the near future because the deals are incredible!
These are great tips! I can’t ever remember getting an amazing deal on a hotel. Although when I was younger and my parents and I would go abroad, my Mum managed to wangle us a few really lovely hotels!
Jenny
http://www.jennyinneverland.com
I’ve landed some incredible ones, and other times I’ve been stuck paying full price… but I’m determined to put some of these tricks into effect more consistently moving forward
These are actually wonderful ideas! I really suck at booking hotels. I mean, my top priorities in a hotel room is a bathtub (I don’t have one in my flat) so I’m defo going to get a room with one no matter how much it’ll cost. Haha, I need to get these tips on the use now!
? Jasmin
// overdosedoncaffeine.com
I was in that situation in one of my previous apartments so I COMPLETELY understand what you mean!
Loved this post!!! Some helpful tips here. It’s so true that you do need to look past the price sometimes in order to get a good ‘deal’ as it’s not really a bargain if the door knob falls off lol! Xxx
Definitely not! I’d like to say I was exaggerating with that example, but… lol
I can’t believe you’ve had a doorknob falling off into your hand! That’s so bad, I have to admit it gave me a little giggle though. Absolutely love this post, I don’t often travel myself, but package deals are the one!
I’ve been trying to travel a little more around my own country since last year, first spending two days and a night in London.. I used a package deal for that, I keep seeing the same deal elsewhere for a higher price… Those prices are still a deal, yet mine was the lowest I’ve seen, which keeps making me happier every time I see it!
I’m looking to stay in Manchester this Summer as I’m attending a Harry Potter convention for the weekend, unfortunately this won’t be a package deal, but I’m definitely already keeping an eye out on Groupon/Wowcher and such websites to see if there’s any good hotel/hostel deals come up. If not there’s a hostel I stayed in back in my college days that’s actually really nice, especially considering the cheap price.. So if nothing comes up I can at least fall back on that! I’m hoping to try venture out of the country next year… On a package deal, of course! I love how everything’s arranged in one go, too. Takes away SO much stress for me!
I couldn’t believe it when it happened either – I’m pretty sure I stood there for a solid couple minutes just staring at the doorknob in my hand trying to wrap my head around what happened hahaha
Some great tips here, I’m going to have to look in to that website roomer though. Might come in handy for recouping some money and for traveling too 🙂
I just discovered that one this year, but I wish I had discovered it much sooner!
I can’t believe a door knob fell off in your hand! That’s awful. 🙁 I always shop around Booking.com when I’m looking for hotels and have gotten some great deals in the past. One of the best things I’ve tried is ‘private browsing’ whenever I’m looking up flights or hotels.
I’ve never tried a package deal but I’ll keep it in mind when I book my next trip.
It was quite the experience hahaha – At the time I was beyond frustrated and annoyed, but looking back now my friends and I get a good laugh out of it.
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