The cheapest and most expensive day of the week to book a hotel room depends on the travel site.
According to travel aggregator Kayak, the best day of the week to book your hotel at the lowest rate is Saturday for domestic travel and Friday for international travel. Kayak, also identified Tuesday as the most expensive day to book domestic travel and Sunday is the most expensive day for international hotels. As the week slides into the weekend, hotel searches drop by as much as 30%, and the rates tend to drop off, as well.
Interestingly, TripAdvisor reported that Tuesday is the cheapest day to book a hotel, both for domestic and international accommodations.
In 2021 Kayak reports that Tuesday has become the cheapest day of the week to check into a hotel both domestically and internationally. When traveling domestically, if you plan on arriving on a Friday or Saturday and leaving on a Sunday, you’ll be paying the most. If you have the flexibility to avoid that weekend time frame, you’ll save money. Thursday is the most expensive day for check-in internationally, followed by Friday.
TripAdvisor reports that for domestic trips, one-night stays are cheaper and confirms that Tuesday check-ins are cheapest but that for international stays one-night stays are the most expensive and booking a hotel for two- or three-night stays midweek can save travellers between $10 and $30 per night.
Kayak found that if you can wait until the last minute, 1-4 days before your planned check-in date, you can save a lot of money. For international trips, booking rooms 1-7 days prior to arrival could save travellers between $10 and $70 per night. According to TripAdvisor, 25% of international travellers make their bookings 1 to 1 1/2 months in advance when the rate is actually $37 to $100 per night higher. Hotel comparison site Trivago found, booking more than 2-3 months in advance when travelling abroad will cost the most. Travel sites like HotelTonight or One:Night will be useful to find last-minute deals.
To get the best deal on a hotel room comes down to a few basic rules:
1. Make your bookings on a more favourable day of the week
2. Book last minute
3. Avoid checking in on a Friday
2. Travel off-season whenever possible
Sven Franssen