When we travel abroad, our usual means for getting accommodation is Booking.com which is cheaper than booking directly to the hotel. According to the hotel's concierge, online hotel agents like Booking.com is given a big discount that they pass on to customers hence it is really cheaper to book via online sites than directly to the hotel. Last week, we were at Gateway hotel in Bangkok and we it is another proof that is cheaper to book online than directly to the hotel.
I have used a similar website called Motels.com when I was traveling in the United States, and I found that I did save money by using the website and booking ahead. I think that this is an excellent idea, and it works good both for the person who is traveling, and also for the motel chain, since it helps them to fill up their empty rooms for the night. There are actually several different kinds of programs like this, and I think that the one I used is just one of the posssibilities. We also used something similar several years ago when we were moving cross-country in our little TV and stopping overnight at campgrounds. It showed the different campgrounds along our route, and all we had to do was estimate how many miles we would travel each day. We ended up having to change some of the places we stayed because the miles we went each day varied, and some days we jut did not make it as far as we planned to go.
I have used Booking.com when we were going on vacation this past summer. On our way to our destination, I was searching for hotel rooms and was able to book one and saved hundreds of dollars over the few days of our stay. I was really excited and it left room to do a few more things while we were on vacation.
I think nowadays anyone would be foolish to avoid booking ahead. In fact, such a luxury would only be for rock stars or something. Anyway, one reason I say this is because motels purposely keep their rates high, so as to get their money via bookings. It's sort of like how some restaurant chains, Wendy's for example, keep high prices but often have good coupons.
I have used Booking.com before and was able to save quite a bit of money. I did not book in advance, but the same day that we were looking for some place to stay. However, we normally would book at least a few days in advance but this one occasion it was kind of spur of the moment thing. I would definitely use this way to book a stay at a hotel again instead of calling the hotel directly to save money.
There are a number of ways to save money on accommodation booking these days. Sites like Airbnb and Trivago have so much simplified the ways and process to getting cheap accommodation that is value for money. If you want to stay in a hotel, you can use Trivago to check for the cheapest hotel rates within a particular radius. If you prefer to stay in a guest house or a home setting, then Airbmb is your guy Some hotels also offer you some sort of loyalty points. This means the more you make use of the facility, the more points you accrue. You can then use your points as a discount or for a free dinner or even to book their deluxe suites.
We have always opted for package holidays where we are booked at great hotels. Travel agents get heavy discounts for group booking and they pass on the benefit to the group. The only thing that we may miss at some places is the swimming pool but no one seems to get time anyway to make use of such a facility.
Honestly I have only one time experience for booking hotel online. And yes it was really worthy for me as I got the room in really cheap rate then direct booking. I don't remember if I had booked it quite early in advance. Not sure. But yes it should be few days early. So I wonder if I get that discount because of the same reason.
