Best Hotel Rate Tips

Best Hotel Rates Tips

Hotels in many cases find a way of extracting more money out of a traveller’s pocket. To get the best hotel rates, you need to follow some tips to be at the winning side.

Tip 1: It is advisable to directly call the hotel and talk to the hotel agent. The 1-800 central reservations system agents are usually not given the authority to negotiate the rates and are incapable of direct access in terms of availability of rooms. Only few rooms are allotted to the central reservation system, so the agents cannot provide information about proper availability. The direct hotel agents provide much better bargain as they know more about the special offers and availability of rooms. They can also provide options of flexible rates to the tourists.

Tip 2: A good rate can be availed if you can wait for the hotel booking till the last minute. Often the rate of the hotel rooms are lowered to fill in the remaining few rooms. You should always enquire whether the hotel is offering any packages or promotions and also check whether any special rates are available for senior citizens, hotel membership, government discount, convention, corporate, AAA, family, weekend, frequent flier or shareholder. At times, ‘fallback’ rates are also offered to some travellers.

Tip 3: An alternative to the big hotels should also be considered while travelling. The small hotels, B&B, vacation rentals and hostels provide excellent facilities at much lower and affordable rates.

Tip 4: When looking for hotel rates, do not just look for lower base rates as the taxes and other fees can surely make the bill an expensive one. Enquire about the taxes and other fees before you finalise the booking. Also, if you belong to a loyalty program of a hotel and have rewards points then use them to pay for the hotel room.

Tip 5: Not only the time of the year but also the time of the week determines the rates of hotels. If you want great deals then visit the places at a less popular time of travel. Avoid festive seasons and be flexible with your travelling dates. Visit destinations that cater to business traveller during weekends. You can get a good bargain with the accommodation. Also avoid weekends and travel mid-weeks if the destinations are popular with leisure travellers. Another excellent way to save a lot of money while travelling is to opt for a package deal that provides discounts in both hotels and airfares. The options of the hotels might not be varied but the savings would be high.

By TravelMole Staff Writer for Travel Secrets