Money hack: Why you should look at re-booking your hotel stay
Hotel prices can go down – even after you book. Here's how you can make the most of them.
It's all too easy to book your hotel at a price that you're happy with and then forget about it until your stay. Heck, it's actually standard.
But hotel prices do fluctuate the closer your stay date arrives. Sometimes they can even go down. This is exactly what happened to me a few days ago when, on a whim, I decided to see if any new (read, cheaper) options for my upcoming holiday had cropped up.
They did – and it was for the same room, same hotel but at a cheaper price.
So what do you do when this happens?
The hack
Most hotel bookings offer free cancellation up until a certain date. If this is the case, it's a matter of checking in every now and again to see what the current room price is.
If it's lower, you can easily book a new room at the cheaper price and then cancel your original booking.
If your accommodation doesn't offer free cancellation, don't fret. Many hotel booking sites, such as Hotels.com offer a price guarantee. This means if you find a cheaper price on a competitor's website, or even on its own site, you can contact them to price match.
Most sites have restrictions on what you can and can't price match. They also have a time limit on when you need to do this by, so read those T&Cs carefully before booking if you plan to use this hack.
Bonus: If you don't find a cheaper rate or if you want to save that much more, see if there's a coupon code you can use. When I changed my booking from a $117 stay to a $104 one, I scored a bonus 6% off with Hotels.com. This took my new rate down to $98, saving me almost $20 on my original booking.
Finder Money Hacks is a weekly round-up of the latest tips and tricks to help improve your finances. Check back every Saturday for new hacks.
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