In this post I’ll explain hotel travel tips and tricks for getting 13% off any hotel room! That’s in addition to getting the best discount hotel rates. Through cashback (from the Uber Visa Credit Card and Hotels.com rewards program) and best price guarantees, these are the easiest hotel booking hacks that not many people are using! We'll also answer the questions, "Do hotel prices go down closer to the date?"
Hotel Booking Hacks: 13% Off Overview
To get the best discount hotel rates, you have to book hotel rooms several times:
- Book a hotel with FREE CANCELLATION through Hotels.com rewards program
- Use a cashback credit card (like the Uber Visa credit card 3% on travel)
- Periodically check for cheaper rates before your hotel stay.
- When you find a cheaper rate, use Hotels.com best price guarantee
Getting the best discount hotel rates is a little more complex than that, but I’ll continue reading for a full explanation of the hotel booking hacks.
There is no best day to get hotel deals, you’ll have to make a booking and look out for deals before your trip!
Do Hotel Prices Go Down Closer To The Date?
Sometimes. There’s no guarantee if a hotel will drop it’s price last minute. This make the best day to get hotel deals unrealistic…you just have to keep checking.
"Do hotel prices go down closer to the date”? You just have to check. That's why having a hotel booking with (1) free cancellation and (2) price matching is important.
If your room has free cancellation and you find a room that's 10% cheaper than your Hotels.com booking, then just cancel your booking and re-book. It's that easy to get the best discount hotel rates.
Uber Visa Credit Card Rewards For 3% Back
I spend a lot of money on dining out, so having cashback on my purchases helps me continue my frivolous spending. The Uber Visa Credit Card has no annual fee and the best benefits you can get from any credit card:
- 4% cashback on dining
- 3% back on airfare, hotels and airbnb
- 2% back on online shopping, audio/video streaming services and Uber (weird, right? Weakest benefit)
- No annual fee
- No foreign exchange fees
- If you spend $500 in the first 90 days they give you $100 statement credit
- Compared to other cards with similar benefits, you’d be looking at an annual fee of at least $60/year
- I make no commission off this recommendation, I just think this is the best free credit card you could use. Here's is the public link: https://cards.barclaycardus.com/banking/cards/uber-visa-card/
Uber Credit Card Rewards
To claim the 3% from your hotel booking and from any additional purchases made on your Uber Visa Credit Card, those points will be available at the end of your statement. From there, you just click in the Uber credit card rewards portal and you can redeem your points for a cash statement credit.
Hotels.com Rewards Program For 10% Back and More!
If your booking a hotel and all the rates are the same between booking sites, use Hotels.com. Most people aren't aware of how generous the Hotels.com Reward Program can be. They give you 10% back and match the lowest price as part of their price beat guarantee.
With every 10 nights you stay, you get 1 free night. What does that really mean? They take the average of your 10 nights (paid) and give you a booking credit of 10% of that total price. Essentially, 1 night free after 10 nights. So if you spend $1000 on 10 hotel stays, you get a $100 credit. Because “1-night free” sounds better than 10% back.
Hotels.com Cashback?
If you use a cashback site, depending on the rate, you may forfeit your Hotels.com Reward Program eligible night counts (just for that booking). The Hotels.com website will warn you when you connect from a cashback site.
I personally use Ebates and TopCashback since the best cashback rate can fluctuate between them. Those are my referral links if you'd like to sign up.
Hotels.com Best Price Guarantee
Other Booking Sites: You have up to 24 hours after completing your booking to submit a lower price from a competing site as part of the hotel rate guarantee.
Hotels.com Guarantee: You can submit for a price match up until the day before your hotel booking
To submit a Hotels.com best price guarantee, you can do directly to this page.
Hotels.com Best Price Guarantee Is Bad For Very Last Minute Deals
With the cashback and price match, Hotels.com has the best price. There's only 1 drawback, last minute bookings.
Sometimes hotels can be discount 10-20% a few days before you need to have a hotel. Submitting a Hotels.com best price guarantee isn't an instant process. It can take up to a few days to hear back if your claim cleared.
Redeeming Your Hotels.com Reward Program Free Night
After completing 10 nights of hotel bookings (can be multiple bookings) your account will be credited with an award night with 10% value of your total spend from the 10 nights you booked.
Hotel Hacks: Last Minute Deals
Sometimes hotel prices go down closer to the date of your arrival. I've seen this more often with Agoda.com hotels. If it's 1-3 days before your hotel stay, it's better to cancel your Hotels.com booking and rebook the hotel with the lower rate. BUT, you have to factor in the Hotels.com 10% discount and any cashback with the new hotel booking site.
Conclusion
I know, it's a lot of math to take in. Basically you always want to make sure you're getting some cashback. Using the Uber Visa Credit Card is an instant 3% and Hotels.com is the other 10%.
The easiest hotel travel tips and tricks starts with FREE CANCELLATION. Non-refundable rates are always cheaper, but you can still find deals with a little more searching.. So if it's a few days before your trip and the only lower rate you can find is the non-refundable rate:
- Cancel your room
- Re-book the lower rate (even if it's non-refundable).
- Make sure to use cashback credit cards and/or cashback sites.
If you want to step up your travel experience with better hotels and spending less money, get ready for travel hacks with my Guide To Credit Card bonuses. Also be sure to check out my Travel Tech page which will aid you on your travel quests.
Add this to your list of hotel travel tips and tricks! If you enjoyed this, let me know! What kind of cashback are you getting?
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://blorg.org/hotel-travel-tips-and-tricks-13-off-the-best-discount-hotel-rates/