Hotel bookings are notoriously expensive across much of the world. Having the chance to stay in a place that offers luxury beyond your normal means can be a great experience, punctuating a trip in a memorable and tangible way. While an experience like this can often be well worth the high price tag, though, most people look to save money when they make their next booking.
Using the expertise of seasoned travelers and hotel industry insiders alike, this article will be providing you with all the knowledge you need to get the very best deal on your next hotel booking. Working hard is always worth it when you’re able to get your hands on an affordable hotel.
Use the right websites
According to www.affordablecorporatesuites.net, there are a lot of accommodation booking websites available for hotels around the world. Websites like this can offer a great way to save money on your next hotel visit, but you need to make sure that you’re using the right sites for this.
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Low or no commission
The vast majority of hotel booking platforms add their own commission to your booking when you buy it through them. This can be a small percentage of the overall price, but it will still make your hotel less affordable. Websites like Expedia, Booking.com, and Hotels.com all take a commission, though their size and success mean that they can afford to take less from each visitor than other websites.
Local hotel websites
Alongside using large websites with low commissions, it can also be worth looking at local hotel directories for the places you’d like to visit. Websites like this often have no commissions at all, being created solely to help local businesses. This can be ideal for those booking hotel rooms for their own business ventures.
Sign in for the most affordable hotels
Hotel platforms and directories will often make their prices higher for those that aren’t members. This isn’t because membership costs anything, with sites like Expedia being completely free, but rather to give you a reason to make an account with them. Thanks to modern social sign-in methods, you can often get yourself hooked up with an account in minutes. Of course, though, you have to be willing to pass over your personal information if you take this approach.
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Booking early or last minute
Getting the best price on a hotel room is often down to timing. Booking very early will give you the chance to get good deals, with few people taking the time to plan their trips more than a couple of months in advance.
Alongside this, though, you can also save a lot of money by booking last minute. This is because many hotels lower their prices in an effort to book out rooms that would otherwise be left empty. In some cases, cancelation websites can give you incredible savings, as hotels will often view giving a hotel room away at an affordable price as a worthy compromise instead of having it stay empty.
Take advantage of free cancelations
Free cancelations can be a powerful tool for those looking to save money on their hotel booking. While you will have to either pay the full price of the hotel room or put down a small deposit, booking websites and hotels that offer free cancelations will let you book a room and cancel it with a full refund.
It’s very important to make sure that you read the terms and conditions of services like this. Many hotels offer cancelations that can only be free under specific circumstances, enabling guests to cancel their booking for reasons that are out of their control. Thankfully, though, this sort of stipulation has to be made very clear.
This can give you the chance to make a booking while it is cheap, canceling it if you find something cheaper or have to change your plans. Taking advantage of this feature can be an excellent way to save a small fortune without risking losing bookings.
Use coupons and special deals
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Coupons can be an affordable hotel seeker’s meal ticket when they are used correctly. Most hotel platforms offer some sort of coupons and special deals throughout the year, but some will offer much greater savings than others. This makes it well worth spending the time to shop around and find websites that have the best deals, and there are a couple of ways to do this.
Reading blogs
Blogs can be an excellent resource for those looking for affordable hotel visits. Online resources like this can give you access to sales and deals that you would have never had the time to find on your own, alongside offering other travel tips for your adventures.
Coupon apps
Coupon apps can be used to automatically scan and look for coupons that can be applied to your hotel stay before you buy it. A great example of this is Honey, a browser extension that can do all of your coupon hunting for you. This can help you to find coupons from all over the web without having to make a single search; you just go through the booking process as normal and see the deals at the end.
Book directly with hotels
Finally, as the last tip to consider, it’s time to think about booking directly with the hotels you want to visit. This is an approach that businesses will often take when they are booking suites for their team members, providing a way to get a commission-free booking while getting the very best price on the market. In some cases, it will pay to call hotels directly and ask them what sort of deals they can offer. You may even be able to barter down the price of your stay to make it more affordable.
Affordable hotels can feel hard to come by in the modern world. This can make you feel like your options are limited, though it isn’t as hard as you might expect to get an excellent deal on your next stay. Whether booking privately or for a business, it’s always worth taking advantage of the tips in a post like this.
