Hotel Deals, Tips, And Tricks
What kind of deals or discounts do hotels offer senior citizens?
Older or retired people can often get good deals through AARP and sometimes through senior citizen discount programs, although they are not senior citizens. So you should check with the hotel and see if there are any of those rates available a they can be very good deals.
How can I use my Auto Club card to get a hotel discount?
Auto Club cards come in very handy when you are booking hotel rooms and looking for a discount. You should always ask if the hotel offers a discount for your Auto Club membership.
How can I use my AAA discount when booking a reservation online?
Sometimes when you're booking online, there will be a place asks if you are a member of an auto club. If you are, you can put that in and often you'll qualify for a discount. If that auto club discount is not showing up on the website, you should log off, call the website and ask if there's an auto club discount.
What are the secrets to booking a hotel room over the phone?
I think that to get the best hotel room rate over the phone, you need to be very aggressive about asking what the specials are, what the discounts are, and if there are any special rates for members of auto clubs (for example, if you're a AAA member.) If you're a member of AARP often there are discounts for hotel rooms. You need to be careful because sometimes those best rates are not as good as a rate that's online. Make sure that you do a lot of comparison shopping when booking hotel rooms.
What is an "opaque site"?
An opaque site is a site like Hotwire or Priceline where you don't see the actual price of the hotel room. It could also be an opaque site for a rental car or an airline ticket. Instead, you are bidding on an unknown and what you are generally getting is the leftovers from somebody's inventory. Opaque sites can be tremendous value, but it also carries an element of risk because you really don't know what you are getting.
How can I save money when booking a hotel using an opaque site?
There's several ways to save money using opaque sites. One is to make sure you do your homework before you start bidding for the room. There's a site called Bidding for Travel that lets its users know what hotels you're most likely to get. For example, if you're trying to use it to get a four star hotel in San Francisco in a certain area, it will tell you what hotels generally come up in that particular opaque site bid. Last year I was trying to get a hotel in San Francisco and I wanted one that was fairly near the ball park. I put in those criteria and I ended up getting a very nice hotel, a four star hotel for $79 a night, so it was a real deal. I've also used opaque sites to get mid-price hotels and that's a little bit trickier because you don't always know what you're getting and they're not necessarily in the best part of town. For high end hotels I think opaque sites work great.
Can I get a better deal avoiding the 800 number and calling the hotel directly?
You sometimes can get a better deal on a hotel by calling the local number and speaking with the reservations agent or the hotel manager. I wouldn't discount using the 800 number either, because it's all part of the kinds of tools that you have that can help you get a better rate on a hotel room.
What is a "late check out"?
Late check out generally means that you're going to stay beyond the designated hour for getting out of the hotel. In many hotels it's as early as 11 and sometimes it's noon. More commonly, check out is at 1pm. But if your flight isn't until 4:00 and your check out is at 11:00, what are you supposed to do for those extra hours? You can call the front desk and ask for late check out. Generally they'll grant that. It's very helpful to them because it increases customer satisfaction and it's helpful to you because you're not standing around in a hotel lobby or spending time in an airport.
Is it possible to get a cheaper rate if I just walk into a hotel?
Sometimes if you walk into a hotel late in the day, you will get a better rate because there's inventory that's still unsold - there are rooms that are still available. The hotel, rather than have those go vacant for the night and risk not getting revenue for those rooms, will discount them. You may be the recipient of a discount, just because there's extra inventory. That's unlike, for example, a rental car, where you should never just walk up to the counter and say you need a car. You should always call ahead, even if you stop as you're getting off your plane. A hotel is a little bit different and you can achieve big savings this way. However, it doesn't always work. I've had an experience where I've tried to check in late in the day, and I went in very confidently and said, "It's six o'clock. How about a little discount on that room?" and they said essentially, "Well, it's six o'clock and you don't have a place to stay, how about if you pay full rate?" It doesn't always work, but it's worth asking.
Are there certain types of hotels that families should avoid?
I think, sometimes, bed and breakfasts are not the ideal places for families. Sometimes, children and antiques, because these tend to be in private homes, aren't a good mix. I think it's also important to understand when you're staying in a hotel that primarily serves business travelers that children can be a distraction and, for them, can be an annoyance. It's a good idea to make sure that you understand who the clientele is and what the rules are that govern guest behavior when you're booking a hotel.
How do I get the best deal on my hotel room?
You need to employ every trick in the bag to get the best rate on hotels. You need to check online: it's good to check with several online agencies - Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity. You need to check aggregator site such as Sitessidestep, Mobissimo and Kayak. You should also check with the travel agent, and finally the best thing to do is to call the hotel directly and ask if there are any specials or deals. Make sure you talk about whether you can offer AAA, or an autoclub membership - an AARP if you're a member of AARP. If you're traveling on business, ask for the hotel's corporate rate. You need to check all of those to make sure you get your best deal on a hotel room.
