I’m sharing this concrete example with you because I just saved again thanks to one of the simplest tips that very often helps find cheaper accommodation. It’s so easy, too: it’s just rechecking accommodation prices frequently after booking. Most hotel bookings are fully refundable, so it makes no sense not to do it.
Accommodation prices obviously aren’t as variable as plane ticket prices (that’s hard to beat, even in any existing industry). But they still vary, and so you’re surely throwing money in the trash if you don’t recheck your prices!
Because they often drop! I always use this tip for each of my 10+ trips per year. It’s really easy; you just need to know it exists. Flytrippers is there for that.
Here’s another concrete personal example of savings by rechecking prices (with a particularity that happened to me for the very first time ever) and a few other related tips!
Basics of the accommodation price rechecking tip
You can skip this section if you already know the pro tip. I’ll summarize it for you before showing my example, while you await an updated detailed guide about the tip soon.
Why recheck accommodation prices?
The tip is really simple: recheck the price of already booked accommodation, and recheck often!
Because prices very often go down. And your initial booking is likely cancelable for free.
It’s really fascinating how little-known this is, but most accommodation bookings are fully refundable until very close to the stay. Always confirm when booking; you should always read the modification/cancellation policy, obviously. I know a lot of people have a hard time reading, but it’s really necessary when you buy something (especially in the world of travel).
(Free cancellation is another good reason why travel pros avoid packages that are overpriced… and less flexible!)
How to ensure you can recheck accommodation prices?
Thanks to this tip, as soon as you think there’s the slightest chance you might need accommodation, the savvy thing to do is to immediately book something to lock in a price. It’s 100% risk-free if it’s refundable.
As long as you set a reminder so you don’t forget to cancel before the deadline.
If you change your mind or find something better, you get a refund.
Note that it’s even more important to immediately book something when you think there’s the slightest chance you might travel for a specific major event or during a peak period. Those are situations when accommodation prices can be very high if you wait, because everyone wants to go to the same event or travel at the same time.
The accommodation is refundable. It makes absolutely no sense to take the risk that it goes up, whether you book in cash or in points (and you really should have points for free hotels, especially with the can’t-miss once-a-year deal until August 18).
Booking early is a simple way to get ahead of the price increase and lock in a slightly less indecent price. For accommodation!!! It’s the complete opposite with plane tickets prices, at least those booked in cash or in points of the more simple type (it’s a terrible idea to book flights 1 year in advance as many sadly do, unless of course you book in points of the more lucrative type).
Hotels are usually bookable about 1 year in advance.
So personally, I book at least twice as many hotels as I actually use! And I constantly recheck prices. I find a price drop extremely often.
How to recheck accommodation prices?
You need to recheck the price of other accommodation options most importantly, but even the price of your specific accommodation if you absolutely don’t want to change it (but you should be open to changing; don’t forget that, like with everything, the more flexible you are, the more you save, of course).
It’s just mathematical: let’s say there are 100 hotels in your price range in a city. There are way more chances that it’s one of the other 99 that drops in price… than the only one you booked.
So, you recheck the prices of accommodations. Frequently.
This is the basics of how to save on accommodation, but concretely, you recheck your prices on the Trivago comparison site (and on Marriott if you have points).
If it’s your final recheck just before the deadline to cancel your initial booking for free (the most important time to do a price recheck), also check Hotwire to see last-minute opaque deals.
When to recheck accommodation prices?
At a minimum, recheck your prices just before the deadline to cancel your initial booking for free (when you get your reminder that you smartly set when you book any hotel).
But the more often you recheck, the more you’ll save. It’s always that for everything: the more time you invest in your trip planning, the more your trip will be affordable (and enjoyable, too).
Prices don’t go in just one direction in a linear way. Sometimes they go down, then back up, then back down. They fluctuate continuously, so you can often save.
Here’s what you do concretely, depending on the results of your recheck:
- Prices are lower
- You rebook and save money
- You still recheck again later
- Prices are higher or identical
- You recheck again later
What are the specific steps to follow to use this tip?
Just to summarize:
- Book a refundable hotel as soon as you think you might need one
- Set a calendar reminder for the day before the deadline for free cancellation
- Recheck prices as often as possible
- Book a cheaper or better hotel if you find one
- Cancel the initial booking if you find better or just don’t need it anymore
- Recheck again until the deadline for free cancellation
Usually, your credit card is actually not even charged when you book. But if it was charged, you’ll be refunded if the hotel is refundable. Simple!
I had already shared a concrete example of $100+ savings very easily with this tip for my trip to India (and also $100+ each for several other members of the Canadian delegation at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance summit thanks to me; nobody knew we could just cancel and rebook).
Well, I just got big savings again. That happens to me often, obviously.
But what’s special was this time it’s not just a hotel that dropped in price (that’s excessively frequent and not that noteworthy), but instead a new particular situation: a brand-new hotel.
My savings on my hotel booking
Since 2022, I have gone to Las Vegas every fall for the When We Were Young music festival (I had only been to that city once before, 10 years before… yes, I’d prefer if the festival were somewhere else, okay).
Every year, hotel prices easily go up to around 600 CAD per night, and at the last minute, it’s even $600 for mediocre hotels (hello, Circus Circus).
This is far from the affordable countries where you can travel for $40 total per day!!!
It’s normal: the US is a crazy expensive country, and 150,000 other people are there for the festival’s 2 days.
And obviously lots of other people who like Vegas (apparently that exists😅) are there too. In 2023, the festival was even at the same time as TwitchCon, which drew another 30,000 people, and the Las Vegas Sphere‘s opening series of concerts, with U2 attracting tens of thousands. In short, a lot of people on the same weekend.
So as soon as hotels became bookable for the 2025 festival dates, I had already made a booking.
This one was with Marriott points, because Marriott points are often good when cash prices are expensive, like during major events like a festival. But the tip is the same when you pay with cash!!!
Even if I had wanted to boycott the United States and cancel for example, I could have simply gotten a free refund. No risk.
(But Panic! at the Disco is returning for one weekend only to play the seminal pop-punk debut album in its entirety, a genuine once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I can’t miss. And anyway, last October, I had already committed to once again be a speaker at the Chicago Seminars Points Travel Conference, one of the most important travel rewards events; it’s happening that same week!)
Anyway, I was due for one of my regular price rechecks for that trip last week, so I started with the Marriott site.
Jackpot! (Okay, that was too easy since it’s Vegas!)
There’s a brand new AC Hotel that was added recently to the system. It didn’t even exist the last time I searched!
(Since it’s new… that also means there’s another very important tip I share in the next section!)
Clearly, the cash prices of the hotel were already normal for this big festival weekend, as is almost always the case: 482 USD.
But… the price in points visibly hadn’t been properly calibrated yet because it’s a new hotel.
It’s only 18,000 points per night instead of 482 USD!!! That’s an absolutely phenomenal value of 3.6¢ per Marriott point!!!
Our conservative Flytrippers Valuation of Marriott Bonvoy points is ≈ 0.9¢/pt!
I got 4 times more!!!
So instead of being worth “just” ≈ 849 CAD, it’s rather 3171 CAD that you would get with the record-high increased welcome bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card if you make a good redemption like that with the 86,000 points it gives you by unlocking the 2 main parts of the bonus!!!
You MUST take advantage of this deal if you haven’t done so yet (or the deal on the business version, which doesn’t require having an incorporated business if you’re among the thousands of our fans who have seized this deal in the past).
| New Amex offers (Summer 2025) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Valuation (BONUS)(≈ 28.3% back on $3k)
Rewards: ≈ $969
Card fee: $120
Spend required:$3k in 3 mos. spend $3k in 3 mos. &
make 1 purchase in months 15-17
Best for: Very lucrative hotel points for specific hotels
 LUCRATIVE
No min. inc.
ends August 18th
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Valuation (BONUS) (≈ 15.6% back on $6k)
Rewards: ≈ $1083
Card fee: $150
Spend required:$6k in 3 mos. spend $6k in 3 mos. &
make 1 purchase in months 15-17
Best for: For those who already have the one above
LUCRATIVE
No min. inc.
ends August 18th
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Valuation (BONUS) (≈ 5.9% back on $7.5k)
Rewards: ≈ $1041
Card fee: $599
Spend required:$7.5k in 3 mos.
Best for: For Air Canada lounge access & other AC benefits
 LUCRATIVE
No min. inc.
ends August 18th
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terms and conditions apply. Flytrippers editorial opinion only. Financial institutions are not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click "See More" to see most up-to-date information. |
|
New Amex offers (Summer 2025) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LUCRATIVENo min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $969
Card fee: $120 (≈ 28.3% back on $3k)
Spend required:
$3k in 3 mos. spend $3k in 3 mos. &
make 1 purchase in months 15-17 Best for: Very lucrative hotel points for specific hotels
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LUCRATIVENo min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $1083
Card fee: $150 (≈ 15.6% back on $6k)
Spend required:
$6k in 3 mos. spend $6k in 3 mos. &
make 1 purchase in months 15-17 Best for: For those who already have the one above
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
LUCRATIVE No min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $1041
Card fee: $599 (≈ 5.9% back on $7.5k)
Spend required:
$7.5k in 3 mos.
Best for: For Air Canada lounge access & other AC benefits
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
LUCRATIVE No min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $1172
Card fee: $599 (≈ 5.5% back on $10.5k)
Spend required:
$10.5k in 3 mos.
Best for: Frequent Air Canada travel & maximizing Aeroplan
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terms and conditions apply. Flytrippers editorial opinion only. Financial institutions are not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click "See More" to see most up-to-date information. |
It’s the ONLY card that’s for all types of travelers, no exceptions. And it’s its ONLY increased offer of the year, don’t miss it!!! We’ll have plenty of content to help you by the August 18 deadline.
If the only rewards you’ve ever known are the absolutely terrible cash back, it’s clearly normal to have difficulty understanding how great Marriott points and other good currencies are!!!
Yes, if you understand the basics of the more lucrative type points, you know they’re the best because their value is precisely UNLIMITED (like airline points from the other new and great offers right now)!
Their value is unlimited because the price in points is ABSOLUTELY NOT tied to the cash price, as you can see with this new hotel in Las Vegas. It’s really THE most important thing to understand about this type of point.
That’s what allows you to get crazy deals! Like my flights in luxurious business class lie-flat pod seats to Europe for 60,000 Aeroplan points, when it’s worth $4000+!!!
So for my festival, I saved thousands of points so easily…
Plus, the hotel is perfectly located, super close to the festival site (walking distance). It’ll be the best location I’ve had in 4 visits for this festival… on one condition, which has to do with the last related tip.
The new AC Hotel Las Vegas Symphony Park is in the Arts District of Las Vegas, which I really liked and which is infinitely more authentic and local than the Strip and Downtown (not very hard, I know). You might have seen the neighborhood in the new season of Somebody Feed Phil that just came out on Netflix.
So it’s a first for me: it’s known that brand new hotels sometimes have points prices that aren’t properly calibrated yet, but it’s the first time I can take advantage of it to rebook an already booked hotel.
That means there’s another very important tip.
As you saw in the image, Marriott makes it simple to see that a hotel is new by adding an orange “NEW” label in the top left corner of the image in search results.
When you see that, it’s good. Everyone likes a nice new hotel (although sometimes they haven’t worked out all the kinks yet, but let’s ignore that for today).
But a “new” hotel can also mean that the hotel isn’t open yet!!!
And that’s important! Hotel projects are complex, and it’s often an environment heavily regulated by municipal bureaucrats. It happens extremely often that openings are delayed. Often by many months!
This specific hotel has 0 (zero) reviews.
That gives you a good clue that it might not be open yet.
A simple tip, which is preliminary to the other more important tip, is to do a search for today’s date. That will clearly tell you if the hotel is open… or otherwise its planned opening date.
Here, we see that indeed, the hotel isn’t open. It theoretically opens in August.
So here’s the simple tip I did in addition to booking it: I obviously didn’t cancel my existing booking at the other hotel!!!
There’s no reason to! It’s refundable until 2 days before arrival!
So this way, if there’s ever a delay and the new hotel doesn’t open on time, I won’t end up paying $600 a night for a mediocre hotel like a beginner!
(A closed hotel is supposed to have to relocate you at no cost in such a situation… but what they’re supposed to do in theory and what you manage to get them to do in practice are very different! So why not take responsibility and not be at the mercy of others?)
Here, this hotel’s opening is in August, so I should be fine for my festival in October… but there’s still absolutely no reason to cancel my first hotel until the new one has opened.
(Except for hotels in points, if you don’t have enough points… which should never be a problem if you follow our simple tips!)
For hotels in cash, refundable hotel bookings are often made without even charging your credit card, as mentioned. So you really have no reason not to keep it when you book a hotel that is not yet open.
And no reason not to use this tip to book hotels as soon as you think you need them… and cancel them in the worst case!
Learning how to travel for less
Join over 100,000 savvy Canadian travelers who already receive Flytrippers’ free newsletter so we can help you travel for less!
Summary
I often use the tip of rechecking accommodation prices for my trips, as every savvy traveler should obviously do. This other example shows it can allow saving a lot of money. Or points in this case, and many other cases, because I have a lot of points (and you should too; it’s so easy).
What would you like to know about the accommodation price recheck tips? Tell us in the comments below.
See the flight deals we spot: Cheap flights
Discover free travel with rewards: Travel rewards
Explore awesome destinations: Travel inspiration
Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: AC Hotel Las Vegas Symphony Park (photo credit: Marriott)
