Depending on the length of trip a person is taking, accommodation and hotels can be one of the biggest costs faced by travellers.
Accommodation along with airfare make up the bulk of travelling expenditure. Everybody wants to save some money on accommodation without sacrificing the quality of accommodation expected.
Compare Websites
The first step to finding a good deal on accommodation is knowing what your options are. Comparison sites will be able to give you a great sense of the average pricing of any type of accommodation you may be looking for. Hotels are specifically popular on comparison sites, which generally allow you to book on the spot as well. The trick with using a comparison site, is generally not to book through them as well, use comparison sites only to highlight a few hotels who have rates within your intended budget.
Booking and comparison sites only display the particular rooms selected by a hotel in question, if a hotel is trying to push more bookings for a more expensive type of room, that will be your main find on comparison websites. Try to book directly with a hotel, as that will give a better overview on the full range of rooms available, along with any potentially cheaper rooms not displayed on comparison websites.
Chain Vs Private Hotels
The pricing differences between chain and private hotels may not seem much in the start but can be considerably different depending on what kind of traveller is staying there. A person who often travels, be it for work or private, will likely be able to get better pricing at a chain hotel as chain hotels have benefits for recurring customers, rewards and loyalty programs, discounts based on usage of other hotels in the chain and free stays similar to free miles for airfare.
For a person who does not travel much, the rewards offered by chain hotels will likely not apply, leaving privately owned hotels in better standing. Privately owned hotels are generally more open to negotiation and offering discounts to customers who request it. For a person who doesn’t travel often, the possible discount available from privately owned hotels is likely to be the best discount one gets.
Consider The Freebies
While not the most important factor to take into consideration when booking a hotel, free benefits can change the value proposition of any accommodation you book. Things like free Wi-Fi for playing the online pokies NZ offers, complimentary breakfast, personal care items or even rental cars in some nicer hotels should be factored into your decision when booking, so don’t make a mistake and ignore these perks.
A $20 a night cheaper hotel doesn’t quite have the value proposition when they charge $10 a day for Wi-Fi and $20 for breakfast. Decide on which benefits you will most likely use, breakfast and Wi-Fi being the most common ones, and factor this into your decision when booking accommodation.
Coupons
It may sound a bit strange for booking a hotel in this day and age, but online coupons still exist and can help you save a lot of money on your reservations. Chain hotels often give out promo codes in adverts or to certain clientele to give them a discount on their next booking session, you too can take advantage of these promo codes without ever seeing them.
Coupon hunting browser extensions automatically scour the internet in search of coupons for whatever you are booking or buying, and this works well for hotels too. It may not always give the best results, but it is free and easy, so is worth a try.