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This is a collaborative post.
The trip always evokes trembling sensations, even for experienced travelers. This is especially true for a new country, when it is difficult for you to plan a budget and find a good deal on accommodation. While you can always just come into town and walk around the establishments looking for a cheap hotel room, this is not the best choice. Often you can save money on a hotel without much loss of comfort. But you need to know some secrets and nuances that will help you bypass unnecessary commissions in some places, and in others get a better offer due to flexibility in choosing dates.
How to Get a Better Hotel Deal?
1 Aggregators – Your Friends
When you choose a hotel room, you should not rely only on data. Try to find sites that offer as many alternative accommodation options as possible. You can start with Kayak, Expedia or Priceline.com. They are also useful in terms of visitor reviews, which give a more complete picture of living here. But also don’t rely too much on reviews.
2 Use Loyalty Programs
All major hotel chains offer their visitors certain bonuses and often discounts. If you haven’t joined rewards programs, do so as soon as possible. Hotels like IHG, Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott have similar programs and you can join them for free. Plus they give you a certificate for 1 free night every year. Also, for each check-in you receive points, with which you can pay part of the price for the room.
3 Don’t Be Afraid to Look More
Often the price of hotels in a certain area is 20-30% higher. If you want to keep your budget, try to find a hotel a little further from the center or in a different area of the city. Often there are equally good transport links, but this area does not appear in travel guides. This simple approach can save you up to $100-$150 per night.
Advice! Most hotels offer free Wi-Fi. This is a useful service, but it comes with risks. These networks often become targets for hackers. You can secure your connections if you install a VPN with strong security features. For example, VeePN has Double VPN – a feature of double encryption and traffic redirection. It prevents data leaks and various hacks.
4 Contact the Hotel Directly
When you find a hotel on various aggregators, the price for the room may be inflated. It is often a good practice to contact the hotel in person and inquire about the availability of more available rooms and simply ask for booking prices. It would not be surprising if, at a price of $120 on Booking, you can book the same room for $80 at the reception desk. Plus, when booking directly, you will receive bonuses that may not be available when paying through third-party services.
5 Check Hot Deals
There are apps that offer last-minute room reservations. The most popular in this category are HotelTonight and One:Night. Here you can quickly find accommodation options, often at a discount. You can also visit the websites Hotels.com and Hotwire, which post similar deals 1-2 days in advance. Sometimes you can save up to 50% of the price if you are willing to move to another location or rely on finding something once you arrive in the country.
6 Switch to Anonymous Search
Websites take our interests into account and do not always use them to our advantage. Dynamic pricing sites, such as hotel booking sites, may overcharge your stay because you are interested in traveling to that city. For example, you’ve already purchased your plane tickets and the website knows you need accommodations. You can enable VPN client for iOS, switch to anonymous browser mode and clear cookies. Just check to see if you get better deals than you got by default.
Conclusion
If you follow the tips above, you can get the best deal. Sometimes you will have to make some sacrifices, such as being more flexible with your time or having to call several hotels, but it will be worth it. Even savings of 10-20% are quite significant, considering that most of the cost of travel usually consists of tickets and hotels.