As a person who has taken at least 40 vacations in their lifetime and worked in various aspects of the hospitality industry, over time I learned many valuable secrets and tips from hotel managers and everyone else in the tourism industry.

Here are some tips that will definetly be of great help in finding a great price:

1. Do not book through any online travel website. They typically over charge 5-15% of the rate given to them by the hotel to fill. Sometimes, they upsell to about 30-50% of the price, and thats profit! Simply go to the online travel website such as Hotels.com, grab the rate that you requested and call the hotel directly. Explain to the hotel reservation staff that you found the room rate online and ask them if they can do any lower than that price. I guarentee that the hotel will cut at least 10% off the online rate simply because they save money by taking the reservation directly from you and not having to pay the online website any comission.
2. Book you room on weekdays if you can. On the industry average, the prices are usually 10-20% cheaper than Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Search for hotel or airfare on a Monday-Wednesday and then do the same hotel/airline on Friday-Sunday and notice the difference.
3. Call the Airline, Hotel, or Amusement Park and ask them if they have any special discounts currently in their promotions. Regardless if your a government employee or a teacher, there are other discounts hotels will offer you immediately once you mention that their competitor next door or down the street has a promotion going on. Don’t worry, you can tell a small fib because rarely do hotels check their competitors private promotions and discounts.
4. Book Together- If your group is of 4 or more, a great money saver is to book in groups and not separately. Discounts are usually available if you book in bulk and help fill the hotels occupancy rate by reserving a few hotel rooms or airplane seats.

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