There is no reason to ever have to overspend when it comes to a hotel room. There are various tips you can use to help find the best room rates so that you can enjoy your trip guilt-free. When it comes to finding the best hotel deals, doing your research is vital.
Sign-Up for Savings
It only takes a minute to sign up for savings on a hotel booking site. This can result in some serious savings for members only. If you are still skeptical, you can try to compare the results for yourself. Many booking sites offer rewards programs, which allow you to earn credit or even free nights after you booked a certain number of stays with them. If you are not sure you want to sign up because you don’t want your inbox to get flooded with emails, you can still catch some deals with a one-time sign-up. Once you sign up with a log-in ID, you can click unsubscribe so you will no longer receive any future emails.
Sign-Up for Hotel Rewards Credit Card
By signing up for a hotel rewards credit card, you can receive huge bonus points. Many card issuers are constantly competing to receive your business. All you have to do is simply sign up for the card and hit the minimum spending requirement. You can easily do this by using your card for purchases every day.
Certain credit cards allow you to earn 80,000 bonus points that are worth $1,000 after you hit the minimum spending requirement. These cards also earn 3x the points on dining and 2x the points on travel purchases. This means that you can turn these points to both hotel and flight partner programs or even directly book your hotels through the rewards portal.
Book Ahead with Free Cancellation
Another way to receive great rates in advance is by booking a reservation that allows free cancellations. Many hotel booking sites do allow free cancellation on many of their listings, but you always want to familiarize yourself with their cancellation policy. Check to see how long it is valid. Sometimes, booking sites only allow free cancellation until 48 hours prior to your booking date.
Do your research because there are even greater ways to obtain great rates from other websites if you book a non-refundable rate. Sometimes it pays to plan ahead.
Earn Points for Free Hotel Stays
Finally, every big hotel chain offers a rewards program that allows you to earn points that can then be traded in for free hotel stays or even an upgraded room. Many hotel booking sites have their own loyalty program. The advantage is that you can earn points when you stay at any hotel instead of just one chain. For example, if you stay at the Marriott one night, and the Hilton the next, both of these stays will qualify you for points as long as you book both hotels using the same booking site.