Discount Hotel Reservations

One of the many wonders of the internet is the opportunity for discounts. Airlines, hotel chains, rental car agencies and other travel related businesses can offer significant discounts for rooms, cars and airplane seats when they have extra capacity to sell and you can reap the benefits.

You can find hotel room reservations online for significantly less than you might pay if you call the toll-free hotel chain reservation number or the hotel front desk in the city of your choice. 

Online hotel sites do not always offer the same rates so you will want to look at all sites and compare the rates before you make a choice. Some sites also offer additional discounts if you are staying on a weekend or over a certain number of days so if your travel schedule is flexible, try several different combinations of arrival and departure dates before you book the hotel room. 

For special events like weddings and conferences, you will always want to contact the hotel directly since the services and amenities you need for your trip will exceed those available through a discount hotel reservation site. But for most of us on most vacation or business trips, the discount online sites are perfectly adequate.

Remember, on the right date, during the right season, nearly any hotel room – including rooms in a 5 star hotel – can be discounted! You might get to stay in a luxury hotel, a resort or a hotel spa for the same price as a standard U.S. chain hotel. So, don’t be afraid to do the research. Beyond the prices quoted by the hotel discount site you can also find deeper discounts by going to online sites that allow you to place a bid on a room. IF the hotel is not fully booked and rooms are not selling at a reasonable rate, the hotel just might take your offer. When you make the offer, you can choose to allow the site to contact several hotels and find one in your chosen area or city to accept your rate, or you can be very specific in your bid. You can choose to allow the hotel to accept the offer during a certain date range or you can specify the dates you want to travel. If the site does not find a hotel room at your specified price you will receive an email telling you that the price has been rejected. You can change the parameters of your search, e.g., the dates you are traveling, the breadth of the area in which you are willing to search for a hotel or other parameters and try your offer again or you can increase the price and see if a hotel will accept that offer.  

Whether you select a hotel room on one of the hotel discount sites or reveal your more adventurous side by negotiating the price, you will not be disappointed in the results.