Finding a Deal on a Hotel Room

One of the most essential needs when traveling, and also one of the potentially most expensive needs, is a hotel room.

There are many options, and you must weigh out whether or not getting the "points" is worth spending the money for a full priced hotel room.  First of all, check with your company as far as guidelines for keeping the points from various hotel chains.

Many companies do not mind if you chose to stay in a nicer hotel, but they will require all points earned through that particular chain's loyalty program to be the property of the company.  Then, there are some companies that will allow you to keep any gained points through loyalty programs.  It is always good to know this ahead of time than to try and plan a personal vacation and realize you have no accrued points as they all belong to your company.

I have found the discount travel sites to be very helpful and effective when finding a nice hotel room at a good price.  There are several to chose from, Priceline, Travelocity, Hotels.com, Kayak, and many others.

The largest advantage of using these sites is the deep discount received on hotel rooms.  Most of them advertise around 60% savings, and in my experiences, all have held true to this claim.

There are, however, a few disadvantages.  For instance, the loyalty reward points I mentioned earlier.  When booking through a third party such as these sites, you do not get your points.  The only points you get, based on the hotel chain, are points if you have to pay for parking and any incidentals charged to your room.

Another disadvantage is that you cannot choose your hotel if you want the discounted price.  You can choose location in a major city and star level, but not a hotel by name.  You can book a hotel through these sites by name, but in my experience, the price discount is not worth sacrificing the points as it is not that much, generally 5%-8%.  To get the deep discounts, you must be willing to accept what is assigned to you.

While it can be an inconvenience to not know where you are staying until you click the "buy my hotel room" button, there are some assurances that you will not be disappointed.

As I said, you pick the star level and location.  You will be assured if you want a 4 start hotel near the airport, that you receive a 4 star hotel near the airport if one exists in that city.

So, if you want to save money on a hotel, consider a few things.  First, is it worth saving generally around 60% to forfeit your loyalty points?  Do you even get to keep the loyalty points?  Do you mind not knowing the hotel chain until you book?  If you can overcome these objections, then I definitely recommend a third party booking site.