Flytrippers focuses a lot on helping you with how to save money on flights, but it’s just as important for you to learn how to save money on lodging. One of the very best tips for hotels booked in cash is so simple and yet so many people don’t even know about it (like so many other travel tips).
It’s obviously even better to pay in points, especially with the record-high deal for free hotels! Do NOT miss it!!! The increased welcome bonus on the only card that is for all Canadian travelers (with no exceptions possible) ends tonight.
I’m talking about an easy trick you should do for all your hotels booked in cash. Flytrippers aims to help you travel for less through our 3 types of content, namely flight deals, travel rewards, and tips/inspiration/news.
Here’s another example of one of the best hotel booking tips (and a less important bonus tip about my same booking).
Always recheck your hotel reservations after booking
It’s so simple.
First, you should know that most hotel bookings are fully refundable.
That’s why you should always book a hotel (a fully refundable one) as soon as you think there’s even a tiny chance you might need one, in case prices go up (they often do).
You can always cancel for whatever reason (just don’t forget, obviously; set a reminder).
But sometimes, hotel prices go down. Pretty often actually.
So ALWAYS recheck prices right up until your actual stay! So easy.
You can save a lot of money, or even find a better option.
I’m currently in Asia to stay in 20+ different Marriott hotel brands as part of their promotion that gives us a shortcut to elite status.
I booked a $56 hotel (that earned me $35 in rewards; 63% back), but the most expensive “hotel” I had to book was the Artik Suzhou, Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy.
As the name implies, it’s actually a full apartment. It’s a very new brand and concept, so I really wanted to try it out as someone who really likes to try things out for you.
I had booked it at $165.
As a savvy traveler, I always take a few minutes to recheck all my hotel bookings.
When I rechecked, it was now $142 for the exact same room.
I booked it, and then canceled the original one (in a few clicks online easily, of course; it’s 2026).
I saved $23 very easily.
It’s not that much, but it’s not very smart to not save the $23 when it’s so easy to do so. And it adds up quickly, especially when you spend 100+ nights per year traveling as I do.
This tip works so often.
As with flights, the price of hotels varies not just based on the date of the trip… but also based on the date of the booking. It varies a whole lot. It’s one of the most basic things to know.
I had already shared another concrete example of this tip when I was part of the Canadian delegation to the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit in India. The price of our fancy Marriott hotel had gone way down, and I saved a lot of people in our group a lot of money.
This tip also includes checking for completely different options. I’ll often find something much better than what was initially available, for a variety of reasons.
I had already shared a concrete example of that too, when a brand-new Marriott hotel opened in the meantime, and I was able to get a great deal during a music festival.
(Soon, I’ll even write a follow-up to that with another great Marriott tip: getting a lot of free points due to the hotel being overbooked!)
Always check all rate options
Here’s a quick bonus tip. It works wayyyyy less often, but it takes literally 2 seconds.
We wrote a complete guide to plane ticket fare classes. Well, hotels have something a bit similar, with different rate options.
For hotels, I book the basic (cheapest) rate option 99% of the time.
But while rebooking this hotel, I took 2 seconds to check the rate options as usual.
And the 2nd rate option actually offers a bonus of 2,000 Marriott points for just $2!
Our conservative Flytrippers Valuation of 2,000 Marriott points is ≈ $18… so buying them for $2 is an absolute no-brainer for anyone who knows how to do math.
Also, the great hotel in Bali, where you get 20 free nights with the Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card’s current record-high bonus, costs as low as 7,200 points per night.
So getting almost a quarter of the required points for a night for just $2 is ridiculously good!
To be very clear, it’s very rare for the rate deals to be this good, but it’s worth taking a few seconds to check.
You might have noticed that the rate also gives a 20% discount at Alkanna. That’s actually the restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton Suzhou hotel, the fanciest hotel in my itinerary on this trip. But yes, it actually cost me less than this one, thanks to a pro tip I’ll share separately soon. I’ll also have a free US$100 credit to use in that restaurant.
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Summary
One of the best tips for hotels booked in cash is to always recheck prices right up to your stay. Prices often go down, so you can rebook and save money so easily if the hotel was fully refundable. And recheck other hotel options, too; their prices may have gone down as well.
What would you like to know about this hotel price rechecking tip? Tell us in the comments below.
See the flight deals we spot: Cheap flights
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Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Artik Suzhou, Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy (photo credit: Marriott)
