There are two main costs when you go away on vacation, the first is the flight or transport and the second is the hotel. Whilst you can look for private rentals which may save you a little bit of money, there is nothing that quite feels the same as a hotel does. There are many ways however that you can save money on the cost of a hotel, and I use these tips all of the time. Last year for example I stayed one of the luxury Mariott hotels thanks to the Auro Hotels group, which I got for a fraction of what the cost should have been. Sounds like something you’d be interested in? Well then let’s take a look at how you can get the very bets prices on hotels.
Better Late
When it comes to flying the worst thing that you can do from a price point of view is to leave it late, as you will always get the lowest fares when the tickets are first released. In the case of hotels however, the later that you leave it, the lower your price is going to be. Hotels hate the idea of having empty rooms and the closer to the date you get, the more chance that you have of bagging yourself a discounted room.
Loyalty
There are so many options for loyalty cards and making the most of your credit cards to earn points which will save you money on your next hotel stay. Something that many hotels have done is grouping together with other hotels to create rewards programs, the more you stay, the more that you save.
Cutting Out The Middle Man
One great tip which you can use to save money on your next hotel rooms is to leverage 3rd party sites to get yourself a discount. What you have to remember is that hotels pay a commission to these websites when you book through them, sometimes as high as 20%. Let’s say that you find a hotel room on a 3rd party site for $100m if you speak with the hotel directly and offer $80 for he room, they are going to more inclined to say yes, and you can save yourself $20 on the original price, everyone is a winner!
Direct to Hotel
The final tip for saving money on hotel rooms is to speak directly to the hotel rather than using tour operators or 3rd party sites, this should always be your first port of call. These websites know that people expect them to be cheaper than the hotel, which they are not always, and you may end up paying more than you should when you use them. The first step will always be to contact the hotel directly and see what prices or deals they can offer, if you still think it is expensive then you can look online to see if there is a cheaper option.
