When we hit the road and go travelling we always want to save money where we can, saving a few dollars each day can make the difference from being able to do amazing things. For example, when I was in Macau I was able to jump off the Macau Tower, with a bungee rope attached thankfully, because I made sure that I had saved every dollar I could along the way.
One of the best places to save money is on accommodation, after your flights paying for a roof over your head is your next largest expense. It’s where I manage to make the most savings, the savings are easy to make if you know how! All you have to do is know where to look and what to do. Here are 3 things I always do when booking my hotel room online.
Use a great comparison website
When I was travelling in Australia I used www.sleepandgo.com.au/, this website saved me a ton of money and always allowed me to stay in great places at low rates. There’s nothing better than arriving at a hotel that you have paid very little for and thinking that you are the luckiest person on the planet! It’s websites like this that should always be your first port of call when looking for the best rates available, the websites often get discounted rates from the hotel in order to sell as many rooms as possible.
Don’t go direct
Booking direct is not the way to go. It’s a myth that going direct to the source will result in a better deal. Usually if you go to the hotel’s website you will find their ‘walk-in’ rate or standard rate, these are not special offers and will never beat deals that the other websites can give you. What’s more is that with comparison sites you can often earn bonuses that you can put towards future bookings which will get you a better rate for accommodation in the long run!
Don’t keep going through loads of sites
More and more people are telling me that prices seem to increase if they keep searching for accommodation or flights to the same destination. If you visit many sites with the same request then you will see the price creep up! I don’t know the back story to this but it’s a fact that it’s happening all the time. So limit your search to one or two sites and compare the prices.
If you have any other useful tips then share them with me and the other readers below. It’s always great to get to get a discussion going so that we, as a travel community, can help each other get the best rates available! Happy hunting guys!