When to Book Your Hotel to Get the Best Price
Whenever I plan a trip somewhere, I feel “official” after I book flights, train tickets, or a rental car, but I’m never really sure when to book a hotel . Should I do this as early as possible to get the best deal? Or should I wait until I actually arrive at my destination and try my luck at Hotels Tonight or another site at the last minute? As it turns out, it may actually be the “right” time to book your accommodation in order to get the best price.
The best time to book a hotel varies by destination city, according to new research from travel research app Hopper . Here’s what they found:
Big cities
After analyzing millions of hotel prices, they concluded that you need to book one to two weeks in advance if you are traveling to a larger city with more business travelers like New York , Boston or Chicago . In such places, hotel prices fluctuate slightly for three to six months before your check-in. The real price cut occurs 12 weeks before the trip.
So why not order then? These cities often have the best prices available at the last minute, according to research. The problem is that this does not necessarily guarantee the exact type of room you prefer: the closer you book to the check-in date, the more likely the hotel will be booked, so you may not be on the list of the best. room. If you’re only interested in the hotel and don’t care which room you choose, last-minute bookings are likely to be your best bet in these cities.
If you book in advance and then see a price cut, there is a way to get a cheaper rate if the original booking has a free cancellation option. This service is called Pruvo. To take advantage of this opportunity, book your hotel as usual, then send a confirmation email to save@pruvo.net . From now on, Pruvo will track the prices for this booking. If the price drops, they will email you. You will then need to cancel your original booking and rebook at a lower price. It’s a little more work, but you end up saving a lot of money.
Small towns and places to stay
Whether you are going on vacation to a small town, for a weekend or the beach, you will want to book your hotel sooner rather than later. In this case, prices are lowest around three months prior to check-in and are likely to rise thereafter, especially for those who wait until the last minute.
If you like charts, here are a few from Hopper that illustrate these hotel booking trends:
For big cities:
And for small towns: