TravelPerch

Accommodation can eat up a big part of your travel budget so here are some ways to keep lodging costs down:

Vacation Rentals

In travel tips classes I’ve taught, there are always a few attendees that mentioned how they had saved big by staying at a vacation rental.  These rentals can be apartments or houses or rooms in houses that owners rent out. The best known website is Vacation Rental By Owner. The advantage is that you often have more space (a bonus when travelling with a family or group), can cook your own meals, can have access to pools or other amenities, not have to pay extra taxes and tips, and you can feel what it’s like to live as a local. The main disadvantage is that the owner may be located off-site and can’t quickly manage problems that arise such as noisy neighbors or dealing with an electric fireplace that won’t shut off (a problem we had with one rental – we left voicemails for the owner and she never called but we were eventually able to resolve the problem.) Parking and arranging a time to meet with the owner to get the key can also be inconvenient. Two people who attended my classes mentioned problems they had but both situations were quickly dealt with once they asked VRBO to get involved. Do a Google search of the owner to see if guests posted any negative experiences.

Priceline

If a vacation rental doesn’t suit you, one of the best ways to lower accommodation costs is through the website Priceline.com. Naturally, hotels aren’t eager to let it out of the bag that they need rooms filled so this website fills a great need for hotels to discount their rooms while giving travellers a price cut. In a nutshell, you submit a bid for a hotel room of your selected star rating, area of a city and dates along with your credit card details and Priceline lets you know if your bid was accepted or not. If it is accepted, Priceline then  charges your credit card and tells you what hotel you’re staying at.  It’s a bit complicated, can be time-consuming but is kinda exciting! Go to the “Need Help?” section of their home page and then, head to the “Name your own price” section of the home page. Check out BetterBidding.com or BiddingforTravel.com to assist you in figuring out how much to bid. It’s widely believed that hotels give the poorer quality rooms to guests who have booked through Priceline and other third party websites. At one hotel I stayed at, I found that this was the case but not at another one.  Keep in mind that there are service fees and once your bid is accepted, you can’t get a refund.

Hotwire

Hotwire.com is easier to navigate than Priceline as it basically tells you, “We have a 4* hotel in the downtown area of Vancouver and the rate is $99 for the dates you’ve selected.” Then, all you need to do is decide if you want it or not. I’ve read that Hotwire’s prices are usually about 15% higher than Priceline’s.  Again, there are service fees and once you book it, you can’t get a refund. BetterBidding.com and BiddingforTravel.com provide excellent tips.

Other Helpful Websites

The go-to website for many frequent fliers is Kayak.com which tells where the best on-line deals are for your preferred hotel. One hotel I was at mentioned that TravelZoo.ca (TravelZoo.com in the US) offers great bargains. Expedia.ca (Expedia.com in the U.S.) can sometimes offer great deals. Visiting a hotel’s website can often net you big savings because they may have special promotions tucked away somewhere.

Give Them a Ring

Calling a hotel directly, rather than their 1-800 number (if it’s a hotel chain) is another wise option because the hotel itself knows better if they need to fill rooms and therefore are more open to discounting the rate. Inquire about any special rates if you’re a CAA (AAA) member, attending a convention, are/were a member of the military, etc.