Did you know that, according to the U.S. Travel Association, nine out of every 10 travelers use hotel booking sites to plan their vacations? Like other services, making travel arrangements, a business that used to be reserved for travel agencies, has moved to the worldwide web, giving travelers a convenient way to plan every facet of their trips.
Just like other web services, however, not every website specializing in airfare and hotel bookings is created the same. Using hotel booking sites can be the key to a more affordable, more enjoyable trip, but only if you know how to use them to your fullest advantage. Whether you’re planning family vacations in the United States or you’re dreaming of European vacations in the United Kingdom, keep the following in mind to save big on some of the best hotels in the world.
- Pay Attention to Reviews, Not Stars
- Save Time, Money with a Meta-Search
- Use Hotel Booking Sites That Offer Bundling
Nate Steere writes in “Understanding Hotel Stars…” that the star-ratings applied to different hotels across different hotel booking sites are a completely subjective, near meaningless way to judge a hotel and make a decision about where you’re going to stay. Consider, the meaning behind star-ratings changes from site to site and country to country. If you want to truly find a high-quality establishment through hotel booking sites, read user reviews. Reviews can quickly give you an idea of the price, quality, services, and location you can expect from each option.
It seems that everyday brings with it a new hotel booking website. By using a meta-search, like Kayak.com, you can search all of the most popular sites from one location. Not only does this save you the hassle of going from site to site, but it also makes it much easier to compare prices between hotel booking sites. For example, using Kayak to search for hotels in London across Travelocity, Expedia, and Hotwire nets many hotel prices that are exactly the same. However, some hotels are $50 more expensive on one service than on the others. Meta-searches let you see this data quickly without having to do three separate searches on the three separate sites.
The best hotel booking sites offer their customers ways to bundle hotels, airfare, and even car rentals to save across the board. In a story for CNN, Travel and Leisure Magazine staffers write that when they tried to book a trip to LA from New York with airfare and hotels broken up, they were quoted a rate of over $2,000. By finding a booking site that allowed them to bundle their reservations, they saved over $600, or just about 20%.
Hotel booking sites are increasingly popular because they give travelers a convenient way to find great places to stay on a budget. However, you have to know how to use these sites before you can expect to gain any benefits from their use. With these three tips, you can do exactly that. Continue reading here: www.comfortinnandsuiteskingscross.co.uk