Savings Guide
Seven Ways to Pay Less for Hotels and Vacation Rentals
Member prices, bundles, flexible dates and free cancellation: practical habits that lower the cost of your next trip.
Hotel and vacation rental prices move constantly, but a few habits reliably lower what you pay. None of them require hours of searching.
1. Sign in before you search
Booking sites show member-only rates to signed-in users. Expedia and Hotels.com have Member Prices, Booking.com has Genius discounts at participating properties, and Priceline has VIP pricing. All are free to join.
2. Compare across sites
A metasearch tool like KAYAK compares prices from many booking sites at once. Then check the hotel's own site, which sometimes matches or adds perks for booking direct.
3. Be flexible on dates
Shifting a trip by a day or two, or avoiding major local events, can change the nightly rate noticeably. Flexible-date and calendar views make this easy to spot.
4. Bundle when it helps
Booking a flight and hotel together as a package on Expedia or Priceline can cost less than booking separately. It doesn't always, so price both ways.
5. Book refundable, then re-check
Choosing a free-cancellation rate lets you rebook if the price drops before your trip. It's one of the few ways to benefit from price changes after you book.
6. Consider "opaque" deals
Priceline Express Deals show the neighborhood and star rating but reveal the hotel only after booking, in exchange for a lower price. They work well when location and quality matter more than a specific brand.
7. For groups, compare a whole rental
For families and groups, an entire home on Vrbo can cost less per person than several hotel rooms, and it comes with a kitchen. Check cleaning and service fees, which can change the math on short stays.
Bonus: use one rewards program
One Key rewards are shared across Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo, so concentrating your bookings there builds rewards faster than spreading them around.
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