HOW TO FIND CHEAP HOTEL DEALS IN 2024 (with examples)

#1 Be flexible

We call this one the law of opposites. And essentially it’s to go where other people aren’t going. And most importantly when they aren’t going.
 

Key-points:

• If you’re going to a business destination, then don’t go during business days AKA weekdays. Go during the weekend.

This hotel in downtown Chicago (because business people gather downtown and not somewhere near attractions) is more expensive than if you'd go on business on weekends.

Here’s an example of the same Hyatt Place in Chicago Downtown if you book your stay on the weekend. You save up to $100 just by picking a weekend for a business trip instead of going during the weekdays.

• If you’re going to a resort destination, like Las Vegas, then go during the weekday. Because everybody goes to Las Vegas on the weekend.

See, this is Caesars Palace in Las Vegas prices for $618 per night on weekends. That’s crazy expensive.

But then again, on weekends, many people in Las Vegas choose to go at that time. And now look - the same Caesars Palace on weekdays costs more than 50% cheaper. Savings right away!

If you’re going when there aren’t many visitors, then the room rates are going to be cheaper, because they aren’t very full.

#2 Look for new hotels

New hotels, when they’ve just opened, not many people know about them. And because they are unknown to many people, their occupancy rates are often meager when they first open. And so new hotels offer significantly lower prices than the competition when they first open to get people to know them. So you book that cheap rate, you love it, then when you come back a year later, those prices have suddenly gone up.

Key-point:

• If you’re searching on Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, or other big hotel chain websites, take a look for the hotels that have that new marker, to score yourself a good deal.

One of the newest Hilton hotels is located in San Jose, California. So, we checked the price per night, and the average is around $427.

Meanwhile, the other Hilton’s chain hotel in San Jose, California, not being new, costs a bit more. Of course, it’s not such a drastic increase, but if you add $50 change for a 5-day stay - you save around $250. That’s tempting.

#3 Avoid the major chains

Avoid major chains such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, particularly if you’re traveling internationally and particularly if there’s only one or two of those hotels in the particular city. Because Marriott will charge a premium when there’s only one Marriott in that city. But what if you like the chains because of the consistency and you trust you’ll be in good hands? Well, our recommendation would be to find local chains.

Key-points:

• If you’re going to Japan, for example, you’ll get much better deals staying in the hotels that are run by Japan Airlines, or by ANA. They will be half the price of the big international Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt chains, and pretty much a similar quality.
• The only drawback to not staying in the major chains, well you don’t get those reward points. But say you’re going to Taiwan. The Hyatt there can be around $300. But one of our favorite hotels is a local chain in Taiwan called K Hotel. You will get rooms at K Hotel for $80. So maybe that’s okay to not get reward points, and save $220 per night.

You see Marriott in Osaka, Japan, for $273, and it sounds a lot like a good deal, but let's be honest - this is a 5-star hotel, but you pay not for service here but for the hotel name. So yes, the good thing - if you're a member of Marriott, you definitely get reward points. But is it that vital if you can book another (local chain hotel) way cheaper?

This one’s a fine 5-star hotel in the same Osaka, Japan. And this is what we call - an amazing deal. Big savings and the same exclusive experience.

#4 Affiliations and coupon codes

What do we mean by affiliations? We mean things like are you a member of AAA? Are you a member of AARP? Are you a member of some company that has discounts with the particular hotel chain? Make sure you use those things. The affiliations like AAA, and being a senior AARP many hotel websites have little check boxes, where you can see those rates. It’s always worthwhile to do that.

Key-point:

• For example, the AAA rate can often be $20 to $30 cheaper than the regular rate, at almost every Marriott.

If you search on the Hyatt website, always check your discounts after filling in the dates (for example, you are a member of AAA - let them know that).

And see the magic. When we talk about discounts and getting lower prices, it’s not always about saving a million dollars. But dollar plus dollar - it’s a cup of coffee already. See?

Also, almost all the hotels have coupon codes that you could put in. Those coupon codes or discount codes, they’re often corporate codes that are negotiated between certain companies and the hotels. But they’ll also have certain discount codes for certain promotions or various weekends.

• You can search online for coupon codes for the major chains. But we suggest you to not use a coupon code that you’re not eligible for. If there’s a coupon code that says it’s only eligible for employees of IBM, and you don’t work for IBM, well when you get to the hotel, they might ask you for your IBM identification. And if you don’t have it, you may be stuck paying the full rack rate, which can be pretty expensive.

#5 Promotions

These are different from coupon codes and affiliations. But sometimes hotels will have promotions like: stay three nights, get the fourth one free. So where do you find these things? Well you can certainly find them on the hotel website. But you can also find them on deal aggregators. Other types of promotions you’ll often find are the ones that provide free breakfast, that provide resort credits, like $50 to $100 a night, for staying in the hotel. You can use those credits at the hotel’s restaurant.

Key-point:

• There might be promotions where you get more points. So, for example, if you’re staying at Hyatts they might have double points promotions. But, when you’re looking at those rates related to the promotions (for example, stay three nights, get the fourth one free), you should actually check if those rates are cheaper. Sometimes using those promotions stay three nights, get the fourth one free, but they increase the rate of those 3 nights, so the fourth one isn’t really for free.

This is an example of our 5-night choice at Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo - a DoubleTree by Hilton in Hawaii. So, as we selected a minimum of 5 nights, we have the fifth one free. In total, we would pay $1,450 (taxes included). The average price per night at this hotel is $208. So that means if all nights are equivalent to each other, we should be paying 208 x 4 (because the 5th on Hilton) = $832. Well, for the room only (taxes excluded), we are still paying more than $1K. Not the best deal so far…

So make sure you take a good look at those promotions and see if it’s actually a great deal.

#6 Long stay & Advance booking

Stay for a long time and book in advance. You might be wondering why these two tips are combined? Well both of these are generally discounts that many hotels offer. One is usually advanced booking discounts. You’ll find many hotels provide discounts for booking 30, 60, or 90 days out. You’ll often find hotels will offer long stay discounts, that usually start at five or seven days.

Key-point:

• So, sometimes it might be cheaper to stay at the hotel for seven days, than it is for five days because that’s when that long stay rate kicks in.

An outstanding and gorgeous Mondrian in the heart of London would cost you $964 (and it’s only because we used price comparison) for a 2-night stay. That’s around $336 per night. But, if you add just a couple more nights - see the magic.

That’s the price we get for adding 2 more nights. The cost per night comes down to $241, which is almost $100 cheaper than if you’re staying for only 2 nights at this hotel. Of course, it doesn’t always work that way, but that’s how you save in most cases.

If you’re staying for a really long time, it might be even useful to call up the hotel, and ask them if they offer any long stay or extended stay rates.

But what to do, if you’re not sure 90 days before if you’re really going? Well, always book refundable hotel rates. Never book a non-refundable rate, unless check-in is today or tomorrow.

#7 Be creative with your searches

What do we mean by creative? If you’re staying at the hotel for a week, and the week looks kind of expensive, well, try searching for one day at the time, or just a weekend section, just a weekday section.

Key-point:

You might find that actually making three reservations at the same hotel might be cheaper than a week long reservation, because when you make a week-long reservation, it makes all the nights equivalent to the most expensive night. Whereas if you book the individual ones, it might give you a cheaper rate.

#8 Use multiple search engines & aggregators

It’s good to use a hotel’s website, but when the hotels say they have the best price guarantee, that doesn’t actually mean that their website has the best price. What that means is that if you find a cheaper price in some other place they’ll give you the difference back of what you booked, but it doesn’t mean it’s always the cheapest.

Key-points:

• The 5 best search engines that we recommend and that are really trustworthy you can find here.
• If you are going to a specific country, there might be country specific aggregators that are useful. The one for Japan, for example, is Rakuten.
• Also make sure that every time you’re signed in when you’re searching. Whether it’s on the hotel’s website or through the aggregators. Many of these search engines (listed here) will provide you cheaper rates if you’re actually signed in.

One more thing, using aggregators for the best price is time-consuming really. So, instead of going back and forth checking different sites for the same hotel and hoping to find the cheapest rate - use some help. The newly launched browser extension RatePunk compares the prices for the same hotel live while you search for the accommodation. It supports the biggest OTAs as booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, Travelocity, Orbitz, Priceline, hotels.com, trip.com. And it works with different currencies around the world. RatePunk is free to use, and takes a second to start working.

In this case, if booking.com suggests you book for $821, let’s discuss… Because it seems like Priceline has a better deal to offer you. Don’t be scared of technologies, these tools are total game-changers in the travel industry.

#9 Check the hotel’s website too

Do that as well, so you can find out if there’s a promotion, you might find there’s different rooms, there might be different availability, you might get different perks if you book directly through the hotel. So definitely don’t just use aggregators all the time.

#10 Get the hotel’s credit card

If you’re staying at a major hotel chain, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, they all have affiliated credit cards. If you’re gonna be staying at any of those chains a lot, get the hotel’s credit card.

Key-points:

• For example, if you have a Hilton credit card you can get free breakfast, late check-out. And it’s all just for having that credit card.
• Sure, there’s an annual fee that comes along with it, $80-$90, but if you stay more than a few nights at the Hilton hotel, that free breakfast benefit will easily pay for itself back. Because breakfast in hotels can be really expensive.

And if you use that hotel’s credit card to pay for your booking, you’ll earn more points than if you just use a standard credit card.