Is there a best time to book a hotel room to get cheapest prices? Is it better early or last minute?
There is a very simple answer to this: Yes, guarantee your best price available early, shop around and if you find a better deal cancel or take advantage of hotel’s price matching option!
Most hotel reservations can be cancelled and will be refunded, most likely up to a week or even 24 hours prior to your reservation.
But careful, do not opt for the “pay in advance and non-refundable” offer.
The best price strategy:
1.) Start by reserving the best deal you can find early, but only under one condition: “refundable/pay when you arrive” reservation
2.) Avoid any non-refundable deal.
3.) Sign-up for hotel sale alerts. If something really cheap comes up, take it!
4.) Check 1 week before traveling when you are 100% sure of your final itinerary. Best deals will probably be the option: pay-ahead and non-refundable. But by this time, you are absolutely sure of your specific needs. Now, you can go ahead and book the “non-refundable/pay in advance” option.
There is a huge difference between hotel and airline reservations: You can make a firm hotel reservation without paying up front and without any cancellation penalty. This usually does not happen with cheap flight tickets. Therefore, with hotel bookings you can hedge your bets. So, take advantage and save yourself some money!
Sven Franssen