Do Check Check Often. The first thing everyone wants to know when planning a vacation is “where will I stay.” To get the best price on a nice and upscale hotel, you should start to check rates well in advance of when you intend to book. Check daily. Check at different times of the day. Get an idea of how low prices go. Rates change often and depend on various factors. For instance, if you check the price of a hotel during a time when the hotel is booked with a conference or when a major event is happening in town, the rates will be through the roof, because the hotel is either holding a certain number of rooms for the event’s participates or they just expect to be booked. But, if you check for the same nights as the day of the event draws close, prices might have dropped drastically.

Do Check Around. It is always a good idea to check third party sites such as Expedia, Hotels.com, Bookings.com, and Hotwire in addition to each hotel’s websites. Hotels will often put deep discounts on these third-party sites when direct bookings remain at the hotel’s prevalent rates. Also, the third-party sites provide rates all in one place, which makes it easier to compare rates for various hotels in your desired regions.  

Do Check for Cancellation Fees. The most important thing to remember when looking to travel on the budget is ‘flexibility.’ The ability to cancel if a better rate pops up is imperative. So, always check to see whether your reservation can be cancelled without fees and make a note of the cancellation deadline. Also, pay close attention to whether a credit card is required for booking and whether a hold is placed on the credit card. 

Do Use Discount and Points Programs. When booking a hotel for vacation, remember to check all available discount resources. Triple A (AAA) is one of the best programs out there for hotel discounts. Other good resources are credit card and airline points programs. These programs will usually have booking sites that are powered by Expedia or Hotels.com but with added layers of discounts which are available only to discount program or credit card points customers. The AAA rate is almost always the best available rate when booking directly through the hotel.  

Don’t Expect Good Prices to Last. A hotel rate that is available in the morning may be gone in the afternoon. So, once you’ve established your dates of travel and have monitored hotel booking rates for a period, don’t be afraid to lock in a good price, especially if there is a free cancellation option. 

Don’t Forget to Continue Checking. It cannot be stressed enough that hotel rates change daily. So, don’t be afraid to continue checking rates up to a few days before travel. Some of the best rates are last minute deals.