How to Save Money on Hotels

I’ve learned to fly for free most of the time, but I haven’t quite cracked how to save money on hotels in the same way. That’s not for lack of trying! Here are a few ways I’ve learned to save a few bucks on hotels without compromising quality.

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Book Rooms with Points

The easiest way to save on hotels is to get a room free on points. But unlike flights, it’s difficult to find valuable points redemptions on hotels. So many hotel chains charge 50,000 points or more each night of your stay! That’s crazy! I can fly roundtrip to Europe in economy easily with 50,000 points.

But there are some hotel brands that offer rooms for a reasonable number of points. My favorite is Hyatt. You can get a Hyatt Place hotel with free breakfast for as low as 3,500 points. Honestly, I usually find rooms more in the range of 5,000-15,000 points per night, but this is still doable. You can earn Hyatt points with a Hyatt credit card. Or you can transfer Chase Ultimate Reward points earned directly to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio.

Another way to use points when booking a hotel room is to use the Chase Ultimate Rewards or Capitol One Miles travel portal. This is what I did for an upcoming family trip to Japan. I could not find hotels that provided the space we need for a reasonable points price. So instead of transferring my points to a transfer partner, I used my Venture X Capitol One Miles to book these hotels through their travel portal. The points redemption value for this is not great, but it enabled me to book 10 nights of hotels in three cities in Japan for free. That along with free flights booked on miles means this trip is doable for my family.

Open a Hotel Credit Card

Another way to accrue points to use booking rooms is opening a hotel-branded credit card. Hotel credit cards offer you a bunch of points after meeting a minimum spend requirement. Many also offer a free night certificate and the ability to earn more free nights with additional spend. Finally, many of these cards will give you some level of status with the hotel chain.

So far, I’ve only opened one hotel credit card. I have a Marriott card that offered me five free nights at any hotel that is 50,000 points or less per night after a minimum spend. I’m taking my daughter to London for her last high school spring break. We are using these five free nights at a Marriott hotel near Hyde Park. Combined with free flights booked on miles, I can do both this trip and the previously mentioned trip to Japan with the entire family without breaking the bank.

Join a Hotel Loyalty Program

If you don’t have a transferrable points and don’t want to open any credit cards, you can still earn hotel points. Simply join the hotel loyalty program and book stays directly on their website. Just make sure you are logged into your account so that you get credit for the stay. It’s worth signing up for all the main programs – they often offer special rates for members, promotions where you can get extra points, access to special sales, and other perks. Here’s are the most common programs:

Book (or at least do research) on an OTA

There can be many issues using an online travel agency (OTA) like Hotels.com, Priceline, Hotwire, Expedia, etc. It might be difficult to cancel or change your reservation, and customer service is often lacking. And you will not earn hotel points or loyalty benefits when you book through a consolidator.

However, in some cases, you may save a little money on hotels. And if you aren’t loyal to one hotel brand, seeking a hotel on an OTA can give you an idea of what types of hotels are in an area, their reviews, and average costs. Even if I plan to book directly on a hotel website or with a travel agent, I almost always start my search on Hotels.com. And many of these OTAs have their own rewards program so you can stay brand neutral and still rack up rewards to use on a future booking.

Another thing to keep in mind is that hotels often have rate guarantees or price match. So if you see a great price on a OTA, take a screenshot and contact the hotel directly to see if they can match it.

Blind Booking on a OTA

If you are super brave, you can make a blind booking on a hotel through Priceline or Hotwire. A blind booking is agreeing to a non-refundable reservation on a hotel before you know the actual name of the hotel. You will receive information about the hotel’s approximate location, amenities, and star ratings but no other details. You can “cheat” by using a tool like TravelArrow or Better Bidding to help you predict what hotel you are actually getting. If you really don’t care where you stay and aren’t afraid of the non-refundable nature of the booking, it can be a good way to save 20-60% on hotels.

Look for Discounts

If you are booking with cash rather than points, take the time to look for all available discounts. You can often purchase discounted hotel gift cards from a wholesale club or on Amazon during promotions. Join AAA or AARP to qualify for discounted rates if you value the membership. And always book hotels through a cashback portal such as Rakuten (referral link).

Book Last Minute

You will often save if you book a hotel last minute. Hotels will lower prices if they aren’t full. And you can take advantage of a non-refundable rate because it’s likely you aren’t going to change your plans. But it can be risky to wait to the last minute – what if the hotel you want sells out or gets really expensive? So my recommendation is to make a fully refundable reservation at the hotel you want to stay at. Then when you are sure the trip is happening but before your deadline to receive a full refund, check the hotel price on several sources. If you can get it cheaper, book it and cancel your original reservation.

What are your hacks for saving on hotels?

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