There are various categories of accommodations out there for travelers spread across a wide price range to suit every budget. Whether you are going camping, vacations, weekend trips, or simple getaways, you can choose your accommodation as per your preferences. But most importantly, it is about the comfort offered by a hotel room and lately, more and more people have been seeking it out.
Indeed, decent hotels aren?t always budget-friendly, but some cool hotel booking tricks can help bring high priced hotel rooms within the desired budget. In this blog, we bring you some of the most recommended tips to get cheap hotel rates and with some luck get some completely free of cost.
1. Make An Early Booking:
One of the most common tips for getting cheap hotel rooms is to make an early booking. Hotel prices vary weekly, therefore, you can cut the best deal if you are making early reservations. Also, it helps with the cancellation and refund process, early booking gives you ample time to cancel the reservation a few days before the reserved date and get a full refund. You can also re-check the prices as your trip comes closer and revise the booking at a lower rate.
2. Go For Prepaid Bookings:
Many hotels, especially those with large hotel chains, offer the best rates for prepaid bookings. It can take off as much as $100 from the asking price of per night stay. The only catch here is that you don?t change your plans once the booking is through. Because most of these schemes are non-refundable. But if it bothers you too much, you can always book using a credit card that includes travel insurance and trip protection to recoup payment in case of emergencies.
3. Break Up The Stay With More Than One Booking:
It may seem that a four-day four-night stay in one hotel may have the same price, but, the reality may differ at times. If that happens, you can always make multiple reservations linking the dates of your stay. Most likely the hotel will give you the same room and hand over a fresh key at the reception as you move from one reservation to another.
Another option is to narrow down to two or three hotels and see if breaking up the stay in two different hotels can bring down the total cost. If the first hotel has some event and doesn?t have occupancy for later dates, you can find another hotel with a matching or lesser price and shift there. Many travelers and bloggers use this tip to book cheap hotels.?
4. Join Hotel Rewards booking Program:
This tip comes in handy when you are a frequent traveler or in the business of tourism. Most premium hotels offer loyalty programs where guests earn some extra points for every booking. Every point equals to a certain amount that will go off whenever you use that point. Apart from reservations, there are several other ways to earn these points like using the hotel?s credit card, facilities, affiliate programs, shopping from business partners? portals, etc.
All major players including Radisson, Hilton, Marriott, and others offer special discounts for their members and even offer discounts for independent, small hotels that fall within their network. It doesn?t part what kind of trip you are planning you cannot afford to skip checking out various loyalty programs.?
5. Team Reservation With Airfare:
A number of booking portals offer special prices for reserving hotel stays with flight tickets. For example, you can enjoy a 3- night stay at a 4-star hotel in Melbourne if you book the return tickets from Sydney. The whole package can be availed under $300 per individual provided you choose twin-sharing.
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6. Pick Up New Hotels:
Every new business try hard to win new customers and initiate a lasting relationship with them. They do this by offering handsome discounts to first customers or offering higher loyalty points to those returning after their first stay. Just search for New Hotels in your destination on Google and you will find a list of new hospitality centers coming up in your destination. If you are not comfortable with a new brand, you can always look for newly acquired properties by major players like Hilton, Four Seasons or Marriott and you will find reasonable prices for first bookings in those properties.
7. Try Last Minute Bookings:
If you are an impulsive traveler or someone who often needs to travel with last-minute notices, you can leverage last minute booking deals on travel platforms. Several travel agents, portals, hotels, and airlines offer amazing deals for last-minute bookings. There are many portals like Lastminute, Trivago, Priceline, Hotwire, Orbitz and One Night that excel in offering last-minute deals on both flight tickets and hotel bookings.
8. Keep Monitoring Promotional Deals:
You can always subscribe to newsletters from your favorite hotel chains or properties to keep a check on what kind of promotional deals they have to offer. Most hotels like to keep their customers engaged and connected with their offerings, thus, they keep creating promotional deals and packages to get more bookings. So, make sure you check the promotional emails every once in a while to leverage the latest offers.
9. Amex Fine Hotels And Resorts Program:
American Express? Fine Hotels and Resorts program may help you save on room rates if you have the Centurion or Platinum-branded Amex card. If you are looking for a staycation at a luxurious hotel then booking with an Amex card can make a big difference. It also ensures a room upgrade as per availability, includes breakfast in bed, unique property based amenities, and so on. On average, it helps you get more value for the money spent.
10. Get In Touch With The Hotel Directly:
Lastly, if you have any personal favorites, you can always call the hotel directly and get yourself a reservation. Direct contact with hotel staff can sometimes result in better deals as the ground team is more aware of prices that aren?t advertised online. Normally, hotel rates rise in the event of conferences, concerts, or during holiday seasons. Getting in touch with the team directly can give you insight into their current rates and look for hotels that are far from the center of activity.
