Any frequent traveller should start to amass different strategies to make the most of their trips. Here are things they should do to save money while staying at hotel:
Avoid queues
In this case, it is a bad idea to arrive at peak time and during local conference at the hotel. It means that we should avoid arriving at the destination area during peak season. Even during a low season, we should check whether there’s an event at the hotel, such as conference or wedding ceremony. When confirming our reservation, we may need booking reference and adequate credit card details. Hotels often provide discounts if we ask for them during low season.
However, we may need to call a few more hotels, before we can get real discounted rate. In this case, we should attempt to bluff our way to a hotel discount. If we bring a large group of family, we may ask for special discount. This is especially true when the occupancy rate is terribly low. We could express a subtle threat saying that we will choose another hotel, if we don’t get a discount. Obviously, we should stay polite during the entire negotiation process. Before booking hotel, it is a good idea to use booking websites that include hundreds of hotels. This will allow us to perform quick comparison. After we find a cheap room, we should confirm it to the hotel and ask whether there are special conditions that we need to meet.
Don’t use hotel’s Internet access
In some countries, mobile data plans are much cheaper than in Europe and North America. In fact, it is possible to get 15GB of data allowance for less than $10 with local mobile network, although there would be some restrictions in time of access. Alternatively, we may bring a standard RJ-11 cable for ADSL connection and plug it into the Internet socket. If we are lucky, we could access the Internet connection without being charged. It is even better to choose hotels that provide free Internet access, at least in specific areas, such as lobby and coffee shops.
Don’t eat at the hotel
Most hotels provide free breakfast, but people typically eat outside during lunch and dinner. There should be many affordable and authentic local dishes that we can find outside the hotel. They would be available much cheaper and in some cases, tastier than the hotel’s version.
Don’t use hotel’s telephone service
We should use the room’s telephone only for contacting the cleaning staff and other free services. As an example, we may want our breakfast brought to the room. Hotels are really notorious for the costly phone charges. In this case, we should choose local mobile networks. Today, it is no longer considered as efficient to call someone located at distant countries. It is much cheaper to use instant messaging services, especially those that allow voice calls. It means that we will be able to avoid using the standard voice calls.