Whether you are going on a business trip or taking a vacation with your family, you will need to use hotels. Unfortunately, hotel stays are quite expensive as hotel rates continue to go up, given the state of the economy. These contribute to an overall increase in how much you spend during your vacation. Thus, for instance, a trip to Las Vegas, which is supposed to be relatively inexpensive, is made absurd by hotel prices.
However, there are ways to ensure you do not spend more than needed. You can find the best offers available, take advantage of hotel credit and save yourself tons of money. You could even get a free hotel stay or at least something close to it in some cases!
This article gives you the best tips you can employ to help you save money on hotel costs on your next vacation. Some of the suggestions will require you to pay close attention to the desired hotel website, note the hotel prices and rates, and even take advantage of credit card offers of credit card companies.
In all, you need not fret. As long as you pay careful attention to the suggestions here, you will always get the best deals on the best rooms whenever you decide to travel.
So, want to learn how to save money on hotels? Let’s begin!
How To Save Money on Hotels
If you are traveling alone or as a group of (business) travelers, you can use tips to save money. We discuss some of them below.
Create a Budget
Travelers often make the mistake of not having a budget for their hotel stays or vacation rentals. This is wrong. You will normally find many hotels on your traveling route. The price for each one would differ based on the facilities they offer. For instance, some hotels give you a free night, and others allow room upgrades.
A budget helps you to find the best one for the price you have in mind. Besides this, a budget helps you keep an eye on your general expenses. The hotels’ price is just one of the expenses you will make while on a typical journey. A budget helps you generally plan and be on top of every situation.
Book Directly
This is one of the easiest tips to implement but is often missed by travelers. You should get on the hotel website and book a hotel directly. Booking sites are good. However, hotels offer discounts to guests who book a room directly on their site.
You’ll lose this benefit if you use booking sites. More so, hotels promise that you will find the best deals on their site. Suppose you made a nonrefundable hotel booking but can’t travel at the last minute. You can resell your ticket.
Do Your Laundry
Paying for laundry and meals are some of the incidental costs of using a hotel. Besides hotel or resort fees, these expenses accumulate to a sizable sum in some instances. Hence, when you cut them out, you save on the hotel.
While traveling, do your laundry at home and pack the clothes you’ll need during the entire trip. That way, you wouldn’t need to launder at the hotel. If you must, then wash the clothes yourself. Also, try not to order food from the hotel. Instead, find inexpensive options around you.
Get a Hotel Credit Card
This is a great idea for you if you are a frequent traveler. Some hotels give a hotel credit card offer. When you use any of such credit cards, you accumulate points. Eventually, you could be eligible for some freebies from the hotel.
You can book your hotel room and pay for it in advance with a credit card. The allure is that you get to book directly, avoiding third-party intermediaries. In addition, you get awesome deals and rates because, since you are not paying with a regular debit card, you will get discounts.
Repeat Hotels
One way hotel guests save money is by using the same hotel repeatedly. This way, you would not have to hop on different hotel websites looking for one with the best price. You would also learn about the hotel rewards programs and accumulate hotel points along the way.
You may even get a favorite room to boot or free Wi-Fi! Even if you travel to different locations, some hotel owners run a hotel chain. Thus, the particular hotel chain could have one in the location you are traveling to. So, use it!
Employ Last Minute Apps for Bookings
No doubt booking a hotel room directly and in advance is a great idea. However, there are cases when you can only make the hotel booking for your room at the last minute. This is typically in cases where the journey is impromptu or in the event of an emergency.
Generally, these sorts of bookings are more expensive. Sometimes, the price might be twice what you were used to paying for private rooms. However, you can limit how much you get to pay by using a last-minute app. These apps consider emergency cases and find you the best rooms for the price you want.
Timing Matters
When you do your hotel booking matters. The room rate for one room can change depending on the day of the week. Also, the year’s season may affect the price of hotel rooms. So you may want to pay attention to the hotels you stay in.
Also, do a little research before you set out. Find out (maybe from other hotel users) what day of the week the hotel has its highest traffic. Also, please pay attention to whether it is a festive or conference season. When the demand for rooms goes up, the price you pay goes up.
Take Advantage of Loyalty Programs
Most major hotel chains have hotel reward programs. You may also know it as a loyalty program. The idea of this is to incentivize a member to keep returning. When you sign up for a loyalty member program, you get benefits such as free Wi-Fi at the hotel lobby, free breakfast vouchers, free rooms, free drinks at the hotel bar, etc.
You may think that this is not a big deal. However, considering how much money you could save within a period by taking advantage of these offers, you may get convinced otherwise. Register for the loyalty programs of the hotels you stay in to enjoy these benefits.
Why You Should Save Money on Hotels
Hotel stays make for a memorable experience, especially for those on a road trip. However, without careful planning, this experience can quite be soured. Many hotels, including hotel chains, provide discounts on their rooms.
You can then take advantage of whatever best deal you can find to save you money. However, on the whole, why is it important to save money while on a trip? What reasons are there to follow the tips discussed in the previous section?
It Is Prudent
It is always a great idea to save money however you can. This is regardless of whatever endeavor you are engaged in. In this particular situation, getting free breakfast or the best rates/deals will cost the hotel nothing, especially for owners who have hotel chains.
However, being prudent can have you smiling to the bank. Thus, you can channel the money you save into other areas where you need it. If you have a savings goal or intend to hit a particular milestone, finding the cheapest hotels and rooms can help you along.
Longer Enjoyment
You can make sure that your hotel stay will be fun if you save money on your hotel room from the start. Imagine getting free breakfast the entirety of the trip just because you got a room with the best deal. But, of course, you may be unable to control certain aspects of your trip.
For instance, your car may break down during a road trip, your credit cards could develop issues, your budget may be severely lacking, and so on. However, you can take steps to ensure that you get a budget hotel at the right price. Getting the best that hotels offer can be one of the most important tips you need for an unforgettable vacation.
You Get To Plan for Other Tips
You will also find it easier to plan for other trips when you save on the current one you embark on. If you apply the tips here and discover ways to save money even while staying in choice hotels, you will have more money available to you.
Hence, if finance used to be a constraint for you when deciding whether to embark on a trip or not, that would no longer be the case. Even more so, you will be improving on your bank of knowledge regarding travels. The tips here teach you how to find the best deals and hotel rooms, ways to save money on hotels while on the trip, and even steps to avoid rip-offs by hotels.
The knowledge accumulates and might come in handy in the future. Even if not for you exactly, you can be a point of reference for family and friends looking to embark on trips on their own. Who knows, you could even monetize the knowledge you now have.
Financial Savviness
This is in addition to the point just discussed. You can transfer this knowledge to someone else when you engage the tips here and learn ways to save money on hotels. It would be erroneous for you to think that you are miserly when you keep an eye on the rates for the hotel room you want to use. That is hardly true.
Paying attention to these little things is part of prudent financial practice. It is no different from preventing a third party from making purchases with your credit card, The fact that it refers to hotel deals does not make it any less valid.
Thus, you can teach this financial savviness to others, too. For instance, if your child were to go on a trip with you, your actions would provide a learning experience. There is no telling the extent of their knowledge through that experience. Even more, you would be amazed at the possible other areas they could apply these skills.
Apart from financial savviness, you would also be teaching other lifelong skills. For instance, your child would learn that it is best to call the hotel before arriving and that it is not always prudent to pay for everything with one’s credit card. These are all tips and lessons they can apply in various facets of their lives.
Final Thoughts: Saving on Hotels
Saving on a hotel is not as difficult as it may appear at first glance. When you pay attention to the tips and general ideas discussed here, you will save funds over time. It is important to realize that becoming a pro may take some time but is doable. You can also always consider checking out some Airbnbs, Vrbo, or other sites where homeowners offer up their own residences to see what deals they may offer.
