The modern-day traveler does not believe in extravagant luxurious stays that burn a hole in their pocket. They are smart, efficient, and believe in optimizing their budget and experiences. An integral part of a vacation budget is accommodation, and getting the best hotel packages is a blessing that all travelers seek.
The internet has brought along a plethora of online hotel booking sites that offer the best hotel packages. At times, different sites offer deals for the same hotel, which makes searching for the best prices and budget accommodation a time-consuming process.
Here, we have listed some of the ways to find the best hotel packages and enjoy great vacations.
Always sign up
One of the most helpful tips to get the best hotel packages and have a cost-effective and fun vacation is to sign up. The minute that it takes to sign up on a booking website could lead to huge savings for you. Signing up makes you an exclusive member, which entails availing loyalty points and members-only offers.
Many sites follow a reward program model, where you earn points, credits, or services that you can redeem during your next booking. Enough points can also get you a free night stay. If offer emails flooding your inbox makes you rethink signing in, you can still get these money-saving deals. You can sign up only once to register a username and then unsubscribe from all newsletters and email notifications. Here’s a list of companies that have different members-only reward program:
- Booking.com
- Agoda
- Hotels.com®
- Expedia
- HotelsCombined
Although all booking sites offer the same kind of deals, some of them sneak in additional charges, which inflate the price. The sites listed here consistently offer the best hotel packages.
Book in advance
Ensure that you book well in advance to be able to avail the best hotel packages. Furthermore, book a stay during the weekdays or off-season as the prices are lower.
To save more, you can book the best hotels that allow free cancellation as this helps you get great rates. Many of these sites have free cancellations on most of their listings, but sites like Expedia and Hotels.com® offer better deals on non-refundable bookings.
Even if a deal is cancelable, it is important to check out the cancelation policy before booking. For example, sometimes free cancellation is only available for 48 hours after booking.
Accumulate points
Repeatedly booking the same brand makes you eligible for reward points that you can use to get a free stay or to upgrade your room. Every prominent hotel has a reward program, and hotel booking websites have loyalty programs as well. Also, they are more beneficial because you do not have to stay at the same hotel. With these loyalty programs, for instance, you can spend a day at the Hilton, and you can stay in Marriott the next day.
Some booking websites that have their own loyalty programs are:
- Hotels.com® Rewards: Book 10 nights at any hotel, get one night stay free.
- Expedia+ Rewards: Procure points on booking hotels, car rentals, vacation packages, and more.
- Orbitz Rewards: Get points on hotels, flights, vacation packages, and many more.
Prominent hotel chains offer exclusive pricing and perks to members of their loyalty programs. These benefits can range from free internet access to late check-out allowance. Further, these hotel packages are in collaboration with many renowned credit card companies, airline carriers, and car rentals, giving you unlimited access to the best benefits.
Some popular guest reward programs given by hotels are:
- Starwood Preferred Guest
- Marriott Rewards
- Club Carlson (Radisson Hotels)
- Choice Privileges®
- Best Western Rewards
Enlist for credit cards that provide hotel reward points
The sheer number of credit card companies makes signing up for a credit card that offers hotel rewards the easiest way to avail the best hotel deals. The massive point bonuses help you to save on the entire travel package. They can be earned just by using your credit card for everyday purposes and reaching the minimum spending requirement.
Here are some of the best credit cards that you can use for rewards:
- Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card: This card offers you 50,000 bonus miles on spending $3,000 within the first 3 months of opening an account. Further, you get 10 miles per dollar on booking hotels using Hotel.com when you pay by this card. In addition, there is no foreign transaction fee when using the card to make purchases outside the country.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred®: This card offers you 60,000 reward points on spending $4,000 within 90 days of account opening. In addition, you can transfer your points to leading travel programs that they partner with.
