subject: Best Time of Year to Get Hotel Discounts [print this page] Best Time of Year to Get Hotel Discounts Best Time of Year to Get Hotel Discounts
Vacationers are always keen on finding ways to save money on their holiday travel. Hotel rates represent a large part of vacation expense and hence saving money on hotels is the best way to trim your travel budget.
Timing plays the most important role when it comes to finding a hotel room at a discounted price. The best time of year to get hotel discounts is during the off-season. It may not necessarily be the ideal time to visit the destination; however, you can benefit from significant hotel discounts. This is the time when hotel rates are much cheaper due to lower demand. In some cases, you can even save up to 50% on your hotel room. Traveling during off-season may also help you save money on airfare and enjoy some additional benefits like shorter queues.
You can check out the hotel websites to see when their off-season period actually starts and find out about the seasonal promotions and deals being offered. Off-season may vary according to the destination you choose. In Europe and Pacific Northwest, for example, the winter is considered off-season, while the Caribbean gets few visitors during the summer. If you plan your trip immediately after or before the tourist season in what are known as "shoulder seasons", you may be able to save some but not that much.
Another way to save money on your trip is to plan it during weekdays as opposed to weekends. However, this is not always true. In some "commercial" cities, hotel rates during weekdays are higher than the weekend rates as there are not many visitors on weekends. In addition, hotels often lower their prices after 6 p.m. if visitors with reservations don't show up.
If you don't want to travel during the off-season for some reason, there are many things you can do to save money on hotel accommodation during peak-season as well. Most hotels offer special discounts for students, seniors, corporations and military personnel throughout the year, even during peak-season. If you are one of these, make sure to take your identity card along with you.
A good way to get hotel discounts at any time of the year is to book the room online. Most hotels provide room at discounted prices on the Internet, as there are no commissions involved in online transactions. Nowadays you can find hundreds of travel websites offering rooms at special discounted rates that you can't obtain on your own.
Always look for hotels that offer free accommodation for children traveling with the family. If you have no special preference for the location and the type of hotel, you can allow the online travel agencies to find a deal for you. You can save great amounts of money using this method. However, the only drawback is that you don't know much about the hotel or the room until you actually get there.
