Feb
22
How to get the lowest hotel room rate
Filed Under Shopping, Technology, Travel
Joe Brancatelli recently published a good article “Hot Hotel Tips” on MSNBC.com. Here are his suggetions for getting the lowest hotel room rate…
“There is no single best way to get the lowest nightly rate. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool — or the marketing executive at a major hotel company responsible for crafting the chain’s exception-laden “lowest-price guarantee.”
Generally speaking, however, I start at the hotel chain’s proprietary Web site. They most often have the best nightly rate — usually in the form of a nonrefundable, immediate-payment-required, Web-only price. And most major chains wield a powerful stick: Your elite-status benefits and perks only apply if you book directly.
When I don’t have a specific hotel chain or property in mind, I will check with Orbitz.com, which I find more convenient than rivals such as Travelocity.com or Expedia.com. I avoid Hotels.com like the plague because I have always found its prices too high and its payment policies onerous. And I won’t use blind booking sites like Priceline.com or Hotwire.com because I want to know what hotel I’m considering before I book it. Another third-party Web site I can recommend: Quikbook.com. It specializes in independent hotels and most of its participating properties do not require advance payment.
How about the old travel chestnut that insists you must call the hotel directly to get the best rate? Time has passed it by. Most major hotel chains now work off of a centralized database of rates. In fact, many properties don’t even have an on-site reservations department anymore — when you call, they connect you to their chain’s reservations call center. If you do call direct, remember that phone agents are trained to quote the highest nightly rate first. You’ll have to take them down the “price ladder” rung by rung by repeatedly asking, “Is that the lowest price you have?” ”
