How to Get the Best Deal Booking Travel Online

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Are you planning a vacation? There are many great deals available on the Internet, but finding the best one takes a little legwork. Follow along as I share my techniques for getting the best price on your vacation travel.

The following 5 Step process can be used for any element of your vacation that requires a reservation from airfare and rental cars, to cruises and hotel rooms. Let’s say you and your significant other would like to book a 4 Star hotel room in Boston, MA’s Waterfront District over the weekend of August 15th. Here is what I would do:

Step One: My first stop on the Internet is to what I refer to as the “primary” travel booking sites: Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels, and Orbitz. Typically there is little price deviation between these 4 travel booking sites and rarely do I end up purchasing my travel through them, but they do offer a competitive “baseline” price that I will then try to beat using my other methods below.

I enter my information on these sites for a two night stay at a 4 star hotel checking in August 15th and checking out August 17th. All 4 sites offer a price of around $230 per night at either the Boston Onyx Hotel or the Millennium Bostonian Hotel. That’s a good start, now let’s see if we can get a better price somewhere else.

Step Two:Next I will visit each hotels’ websites to see what rates they are offering when booked directly. Currently the Millennium Bostonian offers an advanced purchase rate averaging $210 a night (a little better than through Orbitz), but the Onyx Hotel’s direct purchase rooms are higher averaging $240 a night.

Step Three: Similar to the article I wrote on finding shopping discount codes, many hotels offer corporate discount rates and promotions using special codes. You can try a Google search for hotel discount codes for each of the above hotels to see if you can get a discounted rate. You want to ensure that the rate doesn’t require additional restrictions at check-in that may render you ineligible for the discount. A quick search for both of the above hotels turned up no such codes.

Step Four: My next stop is the online travel booking site Hotwire. Hotwire is a little bit different than Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels, and Orbitz. You are not shown the name of the hotel when the nightly rates are displayed. You simply enter the date of your stay, the specific area you want to stay in (in this case Boston’s Waterfront/Financial District), and the class of hotel (4 star minimum).

Hotel’s list blocks of unsold rooms through Hotwire to keep their occupancy rates up. They fill their rooms with deep discounted rates that they otherwise wouldn’t want to advertise on their own website fearing that it might bring down the “prestige” of their hotel.

Caution: All bookings made on Hotwire are final and cannot be cancelled, refunded, changed, exchanged or transferred. Change fees are not an option. If our travel partners can be absolutely confident that the products they sell through Hotwire will be used in the exact way they were sold, they can offer deeply discounted hotel reservations. These restrictions enable the hotels to better manage their unsold rooms. It is a big reason why we can offer you great deals. Credit cannot be given for any unused hotel reservations. Once you agree to make a booking on our site, your credit card will be charged for the total price shown — regardless of whether the hotel reservation is used.

If you are absolutely certain (or are willing to take the risk) that you will not have a sudden change of plans, booking through Hotwire may be a cost effective option for you!

When I entered my information, Hotwire showed a listing for a 4.5 star hotel in the area that I wanted for only $169 a night. A more luxurious hotel for less money! But there’s more! We are still not done saving money!

Step 5: By now you should already have a substantial discount on your hotel. It’s now time to see if you can get an even better price utilizing the “name your price for travel” website Priceline. For those not familiar with Priceline, you are given the opportunity to “bid” how much you are willing to pay for airfare, hotels, car rentals, and cruises. Like Hotwire, Priceline does not allow you to cancel or change your reservation once it has been booked!

In our example for hotel rooms in Boston, MA, you will need to determine a “fair” bid to offer the hotels. You already have your Hotwire deal of $169 per night so you will want to start your bid below this. But how much lower should you go?

One of the best resources for determining a competitive bid is to refer to the site BiddingForTravel.com. Bidding For Travel is a message board where some users of Priceline post their most recent bid success and failures. You may not find your exact travel dates and location listed, but you will get a general idea of what other people are paying.

In my experience, a Priceline offer of 10-20% less than a Hotwire rate has a decent chance of being accepted. If your bid is not accepted the first time, you will usually have to wait another couple of days before the system will allow you to bid again. However, you can easily sidestep this waiting period by using an alternate credit or debit card and creating another account.

There is no guarantee of success using these methods, but I have enjoyed great success over the years utilizing it! The 5 step process listed above can be adapted for booking airfare, rental cars, and cruises as well. Just remember the more information you have the better chance you have at getting a good deal. Good luck, and let me know about your success or of any other tips to add!

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