When traveling, excitement can take over; before you know it, you have spent a lot of money. It isn’t easy to control. At times, it just happens without you even realizing it.
This is particularly true for hotel rooms. In most cases, you’ll spend more than you had initially planned. However, this doesn't always have to be the case. There are many ways to cut costs when booking hotel rooms.
Do you want to learn how to save more on your next hotel stay? Here are some practical tips for cutting costs when booking hotel rooms. Continue reading to learn all about our best tips.
Negotiate Your Rates
A lot of people get embarrassed when it comes to negotiating prices. But that shouldn’t be the case if you want to cut costs on your hotel. Bargaining isn’t a tool that should be left for a select few, you too can utilize this skill to cut costs on your hotel bookings.
When it comes to cutting lodging prices, bargaining directly with the hotel will, in most cases, yield results. Just give yourself some information on what other hotels charge for the same type of room. If you know others are charging less, you'll have great bargaining power. However, before you negotiate, you need to compare prices.
Also Read: 8 Tips for Saving Money on Vacation
Compare
Before settling on a certain hotel, ensure you have found out about the other hotels in the area. You’ll not only have bargaining power over the hotel you want, but you also have an option of cheaper rooms if it doesn’t go your way.
Luckily, you don’t have to scroll around the internet looking up every hotel price. Today, you have sites like Expedia, Pricelien.com, and Kayak to help you easily comb through various hotels. While these sites offer you a simple way to narrow down your search, you should also do some research on your own.
As mentioned earlier, many erks don’t show up on the sites, so you may not know if the hotel provides breakfast or free parking, among other perks. However, with online research, you can find some of the latest deals the hotels have.
Opt For A Different Neighborhood
First and foremost, when on a budget, choosing a hotel room in the middle of the city isn’t always a wise choice. In most cases, these are the most expensive hotels in town and have the highest rates. They are usually there for people who can charge the bills to their office.
If you’re paying alone and looking for a cheap room, looking outside the city center is best. The thing you want to look at most when booking is the proximity to public transportation. You want a hotel that is close to the airport and one that offers easy access to the city as well.
Bid
Did you know that you can bid for a hotel room? Well, now you do. Through sites like Priceline.com, you can easily bid on the room you want. The site has a “name your price feature” that you can use to bid for your room in select neighborhoods based on what star level of hotel you want.
The downside is that you won’t know what hotel you’re bidding for until your bid is accepted. Also, your credit card is charged immediately after your bid is accepted, which means the chances of you changing your accommodation are gone.
Like most bidding forums, the bidding process requires patience. You may get rejected a few times before you succeed. Just keep it up and try to be flexible. Remember to start off where you’re most comfortable, both in price and neighborhood.
Conclusion
You don’t have to be exuberant when it comes to lodging on your travels; you can actually save a lot. It may take a lot of time to figure out what to do and when to do it, but if you start early, you’ll achieve it. You can start by using these ways to cut costs when booking hotels.
