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I have done this before, booking after check in time, and usually get a very low rate for the night. it sucks to move every day , but that $150 room costs $60 after 4 pm. Am I playing with fire here?
I figured this out, visiting a location on a whim, and deciding to extend my stay if things are going good. Usually involves the beach, with plans to drive home around 5pm, and just checking to see if a good deal is available, and just like that 60 0/0 off.
I have also had luck , say driving to Florida, checking the weather for different regions, then deciding where we could stay. At times it could get hectic, scanning prices, and not knowing what the next move would cost us.
Walk-Ins generally get a "high" rate. They have you and know they you are probably going to accept it.
Best Bet is to go online an hour or so before and pick a hotel and get a better rate, or at least do it from the parking lot.
I did a walked Once, The rate quoted to me was Rack Rate. I said No, but the desk clerk did not move on the price, Called Corp Travel (24x7) number they booked me into the same hotel at a lower rate, and upgraded me to a JR suite. Desk Clerk said this is why we can't make any money...
I think that might have happened in the past but most hotels now are run by the big chains that work under a certain protocol. Do you think you can even negotiate a rate with a front office clerk making minimum wage and reporting to a chain of managers that are needed to make decisions? In fact, like the other guy said, you are likely to get a higher rate simply walking in.
Your approach might work for small hotels with owner/operators...no chance in the big chains. Your best approach for them is to email or call ahead, talk to the hotel managers, and negotiate a rate.
Sometimes this will work, sometimes it won't, and sometimes there will be no vacancies anywhere in town. It all depends on your tolerance for potential inconvenience.
I have occasionally negotiated and received a small discount, but I think it was just a matter of giving me cheapest available rate and not the first one quoted. But then I usually stay at the decent-name-brand hotels.
You're not the only one. Hotel Tonight is a popular app that books for up to 7 days in advance, but when they originally launched the first four years they only did same day bookings.
when I have done things this way, it was strictly off of the expedia app, with additional discounts for app useage. or the hotel chains website, always as a member. I am going to start testing this method, starting Saturdays, at 4pm, and see how lucky I can get.
Yeah, I think it's nuts - and I'm a notorious cheapskate. If you're on vacation, this technique is stressful and time consuming. If you're on business, you risk a serious screw up. Either way, if your goal is to save money, go with Airbnb
just to update on my end of summer trip, We only booked the first 2 nights, and winged it for the other 8. It worked out surprisingly well. we did suffer 1 rain day, but it worked! I pushed it , by booking after noon time, day of, but it worked with a combination of points transfers, and small "hook" here and there.
We did book one hotel, at 10 pm at night, day of, and got an extremely good rate, with late check out.
we were in Florida, in a car, and a reliable weather app, plotting the next 3 days where we can enjoy only sunny days. the combination of mid week travel, and not as many visitors, was on our side. so was the over saturation of hotels in some areas.
Our criteria was not beach front and room service, but near the beach, with free parking, breakfast, and a pool. each location we managed to stay at was less than 10 minutes drive to the beach/attraction, and close to good priced restaurants , shopping . We averaged $75 per night, for the 10 nights, in 2nd or 3rd tier hotels, avoiding resort fees and that $25 per day parking charges.
Booking.com offers many good price many weeks before the departure. Sometimes I save more than 20%.
Yeah ive just booked somewhere in London for 3rd week in October,was on a special deal on booking.com and got a third off.Trip Advisor is another good site as they show booking rates from half a dozen companies for the same rooms.
Walking in unless its quite late at night often doesnt result in a cheaper deal.
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