There is one thing that hotels don’t want you to remember when you book a room with them:
You can (almost) always cancel your hotel 24-48 hours before you are scheduled to stay there.
This means that if the hotel room price drops or you find a cheaper room at a different hotel, you can cancel and rebook for the cheaper price.
When planning a trip where you’ll be staying at a hotel here are the steps you should take:
1. Search Aggregators
As soon as you know your trip dates, search an aggregator like Kayak (you can click on Kayak to also search Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity at the same time). Sort through the results to find a hotel that meets your needs for dates, location, and price.
2. Check the Hotel’s Website for Additional Specials
Sometimes hotel websites will list additional specials or codes (like AAA discount codes) that you can’t always find on the aggregators.
3. Ensure a Fully Refundable Cancellation Policy
Read the fine print to be sure that you can cancel your room and note when you must cancel.
photo credit: The Consumerist
4. Book the Hotel Room
Book the hotel room directly with the hotel, assuming they give you the best price.
5. Set up Price Tracking
With Yapta, an online travel tool, you can track the price of a hotel. Once you’ve chosen your hotel, sign-in to Yapta and start tracking the hotel price. Yapta will then alert you if the price drops. If it drops, call the hotel to see if they’ll lower your specific room price (this is easiest). If not, book with the cheaper priced room and then cancel your original room booking.
Generally hotel rates don’t fluctuate as much or as often as airline ticket prices do. But when they do drop, it’s easy to cancel and get the better deal.
The Secret Hotels Don’t Want You to Know is published as part of our Cheap Travel Tips Series, in conjunction with our new ebook How to Find Cheap Airline Tickets.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi this John Corner thanks for sharing such a useful information nice post please keep posting.
This is fantastic advice! I didn’t know you could do that but I will definitely look at doing it the next time I’m looking to book a room to stay in sometime. Many thanks.