If you know where you want to stay
If you know where you are going, or the name of the hotel in which you wish to stay, then make use of online travel brokers such as:
It may be worth while contacting the hotel directly, to see if they can offer an extra discount by cutting out the middle man. Double check you are getting a good price by using a comparison website, such as travelsupermarket.com and hotelcomparison.co.uk. This will give you figures to base your haggling on.
Before you finalise your booking have a look at the honest reviews given by other travellers such as tripadvisor.com . It allows users to ask questions on information which traditional bookers and travel agents couldn’t answer.
If you don’t know where you want to stay
If you don’t know where you want to stay then are loads of websites which can help you find the best and cheapest deal available.
- Provides a reservation service for 80,000 independent and chain hotels worldwide
- Price guarantee, so if you find a cheaper deal you will be refunded the difference
- Allows searches to be made by entering the name of a landmark or attraction, which is useful when you don’t know what the city is called
An online late availability hotel booking website with over half a million genuine last minute deals
There is no booking fee
- Independent travel website which claims to find the best deals on flights and hotels
- Has a ‘name your price’ section where the user enters what city they wish to stay in, and how much they wish to pay. The site will then try to find you somewhere which matches your criteria.
- The only downside to this is that you must be 100% sure, as you have to enter your card details before they will search for you. Once they find a place, it will be automatically booked and non-refundable.
- This method of booking is often excluded in some of hotels terms and conditions, which leaves consumers unable to claim unfair treatment.
- Alternative sites are: hotwire.com , betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com
- Bookings can be made online or on the phone
- Prices seen on the website are the final, complete prices - there are no hidden fees
- Independent worldwide travel agent
- Conducts a refund system along the same line as their competitors - if the same deal can be found cheaper they will refund the difference
Always go back to the original hotel and try to get a discount. Ensure that the room tax is provided in your final room price.
Again be sure to read “real” reviews from tripadvisor.com to ensure your hotel choice is as good as it can be. Don’t rely solely on the star system as they are often based on facilities not on hotel quality.
