How to get hotel rooms at 50 percent or more off the rack rate.
May 25th, 2009 | By salele | Category: Discount TravelBy Salihu Ibrahim.
A good night’s sleep is a must for most travelers. Although the degree of comfort depends on each individual, most of us agree that getting a five star hotel inexpensively is one of the best perks we can have when traveling. Added to it are the extra amenities such as swimming pool, spa, gyms, pet walk areas etc.
As an individual, if we call a hotel or book online by visiting their sites, the hotels may give us the regular rate or the “rack rate”. To get a discount off of the rack rate is no easy task. However, we can accomplish this by increasing our clout, by becoming part of a group!
The easiest way to get this power is to use consolidators. They are the group that has the power to get us way cheaper tickets on airfare, accommodation or cruises. In the hospitality industry, assurance of fully booked rooms is rarely ever an occurrence unless there is a huge enough convention that can utilize all the rooms in the hotel at once.
Here enters the consolidators or wholesalers who buy rooms in bulk to package them with the air tickets they buy in bulk and the car rentals they may book in bulk! The secret lies in the power or numbers, where large discounts are available by combining packages for multiple bookings.
- PriceLine.com is a website where you can bid for a package or even just for a hotel room. If you price the bid just right, you may get it. To find out an amount that is “just right”, go to the website of the hotels you would like to book, such as Sheraton http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/ or Marriott Hotels http://www.marriott.com/ and find out what the rooms that you would prefer go for on the dates that you are planning to book. If you are planning to book an airline ticket and car rental too, then check out the individual rates at their websites. Then start the bid on PriceLine at a price much lower than the combined total of all three individual bookings.
- Consolidators - http://www.kayak.com , http://www.expedia.com/ and http://www.travelocity.com/ are websites where a potential traveler can search and compare rates for single bookings or individual bookings for car rental, hotel accommodation and air tickets purchase. Most people are not good at bidding for travel packages and think that they bid too high if they finally get a package regardless of how much they paid for it. For such folks, it’s easier to compare the prices already on the website and decide what is okay for you.
- Call the hotels directly – It is very tempting to call the toll-free 1-800 numbers on the website, but this will only get you the rack rate. What we need is to find the number of the hotel that you have decided to stay in and call them directly. Ask them if this is the lowest they can go. Make a reservation if that is a good deal. Find out the deadline to cancel the reservation without penalties.
- Double-check - As soon as you reach the city, go to the hotel and without informing them you have a reservation, ask them what the room rate is currently. If they offer a cheaper rate, cancel your reservation if you can. Otherwise, try to make them lower the price for you. Most of the agents do cooperate for fear of losing you as a customer.
- Timing tactic - In my experience, it’s always better to have a reservation instead of waiting until the last minute. That is because I usually travel with family and cannot take the risk of reaching a city without a place to stay for the night. If you can, however, take that risk, you can go to the hotels and ask them for a room rate at the best possible times, late evenings, mid week or Sundays are the best to get awesome deals.
- Travel agent - You can also book through a travel agent. This may not get you the best rate, but if you not a savvy traveler and cannot make sure how to do all these bookings, its best to have the advice and help of someone who had done it all, over the years. The savings may still be better than if you call a 1-800 number or book off the website. Also, if you have any problem, you can always call your travel agent!
- Clubs - Senior clubs such as AARP and auto club AAA etc can also give discounts on hotel rooms. This is additional discount that you get when you show your card at the registration desk. These discounts may be anywhere from 5% to 20% off of the room rates.
- At any time, if you search online, you will find many coupons for every type of hotel. Go to http://www.hotelcoupons.com/ and search for the area and hotel that you will be staying in. You may find several coupons for each area. Mention these coupons when you are making the reservation. Other sites to find hotel coupons are http://www.roomsaver.com/ http://www.theoig.com/ http://destinationcoupons.com/ http://www.kayak.com/hotels
Always make sure that you inquire about the taxes and other fees when you make the reservation. Most hotels have a tax of 12%! Also, in some cities, they charge the tourists with additional taxes for building sports stadiums and auditoriums, adding another hefty amount to the guest’s bill! Also be aware how much the telephone calls from the hotel will cost you, if the breakfast is free and how much an internet access will cost you. Verify the bill before you leave the premises and when the monthly statement arrives, don’t forget to check the amount your credit card was charged for.
Overall, your hotel experience will be good if you get a decent price for a decent room and you have the ability to call the reception desk if anything doesn’t work. Service seems to be more of a luxury which we come to depend upon as guests in another part of the world.
Bon Voyage!
