Top Ways to Save on Hotel Rooms

There are dozens ways to snag a great deal on a hotel room. Some work better than others. Below, we’ll teach you seven proven steps that you can follow to immediately save at least 10% on your next hotel stay.

Step #1: Get a “Feel” for the Hotel’s Price

First and foremost, decide on the city you’re staying in and use Google to browse through the different hotels available. Get a general idea of how much they’re going to cost. Pay attention to things like customer reviews, canceling policies, and taxes. Write down your “favorites” on a piece of paper. Finally, decide on a maximum amount that you’re willing to pay for your room.

Step #2: Check The Prices on Kayak

Visit Kayak.com and check the prices. This website is great because it retrieves the prices of many different sites (Priceline, Expedia, etc.) and brings them together in one place. It isn’t uncommon to see price differences of more than 10% right off the bat! But before committing to the hotel right then and there, use the following few steps to further decrease your expenses.

Step #3: Search For “Hidden Rates”

The next step is to visit GetARoom.com. Here you’ll be able to browse through fast-expiring deals on your favorite hotels. While these flash sales might not all be suited for your hotel option, you may get lucky and find the right one for you.

Step #4: Check out Package Deals

If you’ve already purchased your flight, then this option isn’t going to work. But if you haven’t, then keep reading. Basically, when purchasing your flight, sites like Priceline may provide you with the option of adding it to a “package deal”. In this package deal, you’ll pay a pre-specified amount for both your transportation as well as your accommodation (which will usually be cheaper than purchasing each one individually). When taking this option, it Isn’t uncommon to pay just a few dollars per night for your hotel room!

Step #5: Use Priceline’s Bidding Tool or Express Deals Feature

Another thing that you can try to further save even more money is to use Priceline’s bidding tool. Priceline also offers a special “Express Deals” feature that can be well worth it. The only downside to this option is that you’re a lot more limited on the amount of money you can save (you might get a $355 hotel for $345). It’s not a lot, but It’s better than nothing. This should be one of your last resorts if the first four steps on this list fail to give you the type of discount you’re searching for.

Step #6: Call The Hotel’s Front Desk

Call the front desk of your choice hotel. Here’s an important tip: make sure that you call through Skype! It will save you money. Let the hotel know that you were about to reserve a room on Hotels.com, but that you wanted to call them directly to see if you could save some money. Remember that booking sites often charge hotels up to 30% commissions on rooms booked. Sometimes this option will work, and sometimes it won’t. But it’s worth a try, wouldn’t you agree!

Step #7: Last-Minute Deals

If you sign up for alerts from Yapta.com, you’ll be sent immediate alerts when a room becomes available for a discount. This is far easier than having to check on the hotel’s website each day to see if It’s dropped in price. Yapta.com is easy to use, reliable, and will save you dozens of hours by not having to search for last-minute deals on your own. Combined with the other steps on this list, there’s no reason why you can’t save at least 10% on your next hotel stay.