Image via WikipediaThe biggest expense that you are going to face while travelling is the cost of hotels. Finding a good deal on a hotel room can save you a lot of money on your next vacation. The problem is that it can be tricky to find the best rate available. This is because hotel prices aren't straightforward, there are a lot of factors that go into them. A hotel price comparison can help you to find the best rate, but there are other ways to get a lower rate.
We are not really accustomed to negotiating
One way that you can save money on the cost of a hotel room is by negotiating. Most of us live in world in which we are not really accustomed to negotiating we usually just pay whatever we are told the price is. In many situations negotiating really isn't an option, you wouldn't haggle with the cashier at the supermarket over the price of milk. However there are some situation in which it makes sense to negotiate and booking a hotel is one of them. It is frequently possible to call up a hotel and ask to speak to the manager and negotiate a better room rate. This is far more likely to work during the slow season when they have empty rooms than it is when the hotel is full. The one difficulty that you may have when trying to negotiate is that since it will be difficult to do a hotel price comparison you will have fairly limited leverage.
Good deal will then get passed on to the traveller
The people who do have leverage to negotiate with hotels to get the best deals work for online booking websites. Sites like Travelocity and Expedia are able to negotiate with the hotels and get much better rates than most people can get on their own. They can do this precisely because they have the leverage that you lack. It is easy for them to make a hotel price comparison since they are negotiating with pretty much all of the hotels. The hotel managers know that if they want to fill their hotel they have to give a good deal to these sites. And that good deal will then get passed on to the traveller.
It is important that you make comparison of hotel prices if you want to get the best deal available. Just remember that the price they initially quote you probably isn't the best price available. Hotel room rates tend to be negotiable, if you ask for a lower price you very well might get it.
Niche operators can actually get better rates than some of the larger sites such as Expedia as in many cases they often book more rooms in a specific location. The big sites are only good if you like chain hotels. Plus they can usually offer more choice and better advice.
ReplyDeleteIt is great to see that we are being given special prices, as prices only seem to be going up. I did not realise that is was possible to negotiate with hotels, but as you said, the season is a factor in that price difference.
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