Using Your Benefits to Secure Cheaper Rates

Many businesses in the United States offer discounts for various individuals or those that have certain memberships. For example, movie theaters offer cheaper ticket prices to students, senior citizens and sometimes military personnel. Many hotels offer discounts just the same. Some of the more common are Triple A, military and those that belong to the hotel’s membership.

It is vitally important to mention any or all of the benefits that you have when you negotiate a rate, especially when speaking over the phone. There is a good chance that you will secure a cheaper rate – and sometimes significantly cheaper – if you have a discount that the hotel will honor. And after all, the hotel won’t give it to you automatically because they can’t know that you’re a member of something or have some special qualification if you never mention it to them directly. Don’t ask, don’t get.

A lot of the time the hotel will not give you any discount for any of these memberships or qualifications if they already give you a rate at a bargain-basement price. For example, if a four-star hotel gives you a room for $100 per night, there is a good chance that no other discounts will apply because the rate is already so cheap.

However, if a room is over $300 per night, you may be surprised how much a simple discount rate can significantly reduce the cost of your room. For example, a single room at the Chicago Marriott can run up to $400 per night, but simply mentioning that you’re a member of the military can reduce the rate all the way down to $175!! That’s over half off the standard rate!! Again, be sure to mention it if it applies to you.

Triple A Discounts

Many hotels will offer you a discount on the spot over the phone if you have Triple A membership. Some may do it over their website as well. This is unlikely to happen if you book through a travel site such as Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com and the like. The discount offered may not be much, such as $10 to $20 per night, but something is always better than nothing. Sometimes the discount may be much, much higher, similar to the example of the military discount above. Always remember to ask if Triple A discounts apply if you have membership.

Often the best way to take advantage of Triple A membership when booking a hotel is to do it through an official Triple A travel office or travel agent. They basically have a database of all the hotels within the United States that honor Triple A membership benefits and can such a hotel for you. You’ll notice that the booking savings can be somewhat substantial by comparing their rate with the rate offered by the hotel for the same room and same nights to guests without the membership.

Use Reward Points

Airlines offer frequent flier points to travelers that book often with the same airline or same family of airlines. The same works for many hotel chains. When you book enough nights with a hotel you can earn enough points to earn a free night. This is sometimes subject to availability. If you want to earn such rewards, it is important to sign up for the rewards program beforehand. You can often do this through a hotel’s website. Even if you haven’t earned enough points for a free night, you can earn enough to the point that a hotel may offer you at least a discounted rate if you have enough points for a rate subsidy.

If you want to take this route and earn some nights with reward points, it may be a good idea to sign up for a credit card that earns you points towards free nights when you make purchases. Many such cards have an annual fee, but there are some that don’t.

Some airlines even have partnerships with some hotel chains with rewards programs that can be translated into free rooms at hotels, and not just used exclusively for future flights.

Military Discounts

The United States military is one of the most revered institution in the country. Even though there may be those who question military policy, just about everybody respects those who actually serve on behalf of the nation. This respect often yields benefits for the military personnel themselves. For example, military soldiers who are flying off duty on commercial flights are often upgraded to business class free of charge simply because they are in uniform. On the same note, active duty personnel are often eligible to avoid baggage fees imposed by airlines. Hotels offer military discounts as well, often significant ones as highlighted in the example above. Going through a hotel’s website can often given this discount, but it may not be much. Somewhere along the lines of $10 to $20 per night, in fact. You may even find that a military rate is higher than the lowest published rate!!

There is no guarantee that serving in the military will give a more desirable rate, but if you’re looking for a cheaper rate via your military credentials it may be best to contact the hotel itself, specifically the manager of the specific establishment. The reason is simple. It’s because many mechanisms are automated. When you book a room online you don’t get to talk to a human being and the system can only give you the pre-programmed rate. The same somewhat holds true when you call a hotel’s generic 800 number. Those who work at these reservation call centers do not much power in negotiating rates. You will often find that the rates they are able to offer are simply duplicates of those offered on the hotel’s website. Managers at the hotels, though, can often bargain with you on the rates. Given the respect the military receives in the United States, hotel managers may often show you the same respect as well, thus leading to a more favorable hotel rate.

Are You Attending a Conference or Event?

Hotels are not simply establishments in which people sleep during vacation or enjoy themselves with amenities such as room service and swimming pools. They also serve as centers for conferences for corporations, industry groups and the like. Although staying in hotel and attending a conference are mutually exclusive events, they can still take place under the same roof and within the same establishment. When you call a hotel to reserve a room they may ask you if you are attending an event or conference. If you are you may often get a discounted rate because such rates have been negotiated in advance by those organizing the aforementioned event or conference. For hotels that are often near full capacity, they often block off a specific number of rooms for those attending such events or conferences. This is to ensure that there are enough accommodations in the house for those attending. What this often means is that those who are not attending these conferences will not be able to secure a room if the remaining rooms are already reserved. The blocked off rooms are only for those attending the conferences or events being serviced. This is not only reflected when you call a hotel, but also for online bookings.

Although a hotel may ask – if you call – whether or not you are attending an event or conference, don’t be surprised if they don’t. In such a case you should just simply ask if there are reserved rooms for attendees. They should let you know on the spot.

For larger cities such as New York, Chicago, Washington, Las Vegas and San Francisco, there are conventions going on all over town all the time. They may not be taking place at the hotel at which you may be staying, but many hotels nevertheless off discounts and block off rooms for those attending certain events and conferences around town. Again, it never hurts to ask if necessary.

Most in-house conferences tend to be meetings among corporations and industry groups. However, hotels typically host many wedding receptions and parties. So if you’re in town to attend a party, there may be rooms blocked off for you as well.