| To save money on hotels, you can start with the | | | | 3. When traveling by car, take the hotel coupon-books |
| internet. Be careful relying solely on travel web sites, | | | | available at gas stations, rest areas and visitor's |
| however. The ones that find the cheapest plane | | | | centers. These will often save you $10 or $20 at |
| tickets work pretty well, but you'll never find the | | | | hotels you might have stayed at anyhow. |
| cheapest hotel rooms online. Of course, you probably | | | | 4. Ask for AAA and other discounts that you may |
| don't want the cheapest room, but you do want to | | | | qualify for. I saved $15 recently just by showing my |
| know what your options are, right? | | | | business card to get the corporate rate. There are |
| It seems that the web sites which locate cheap hotels | | | | sometimes senior discounts as well. |
| for you only work with those that have a decent | | | | 5. Negotiate. This won't always work in the United |
| marketing budget. Or perhaps they assume for you | | | | States, but we occasionally have an owner drop the |
| what kind of room you want, and so exclude the ones | | | | price when we start to walk away. Also, we have |
| that they don't think are appropriate. This is speculation | | | | paid cash for several days in advance to get a |
| on my part, but what is not speculative is the fact that I | | | | discount. This negotiating tactic has worked for my |
| have often found cheaper rooms than the ones listed | | | | wife and I from Ecuador to Montana and California. |
| on these web sites. How? By doing the following. | | | | 6. Plan ahead and call ahead. When making a multi-day |
| 1. Start with sites like cheaptickets.com, but don't stop | | | | trip by car, you have some flexibility in where you stop |
| there. This just gives you an idea of what is available - | | | | for the night. Check hotels in various towns online |
| and sometimes you will find a great deal. | | | | before you leave. Sometimes the rooms in the next |
| 2. Find a online phone book for the town you are | | | | town will be $30 less just because there are more |
| traveling to. Look up hotels and motels in that, and call | | | | hotels. Why not drive the extra forty minutes today (or |
| them directly. | | | | tomorrow) to get the cheap hotel rooms? |