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How to Save by Jesse J. Leaf

There are many ways to cut the cost of your hotel stay. You can use various club membership discounts, like the Automobile Association of America (AAA) or the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) discounts, which are usually around 10 percent off of the rack rate. You can find a room that gives you free breakfast or even has a kitchenette. There are often family rates and discounts for summer and weekend specials, so ask for the lowest rate when you call for reservations or check the hotel's Web site for package deals. If you have some time flexibility, ask the hotel when its rates are the lowest — it may be only a day or two later!

The advent of travel search engines like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline have revolutionized the hotel industry. Use these original pioneers and newcomers like Sidestep and Kayak to find accommodations that fit your budget.

FAST FACT

Remember that sometimes it's worth spending a little more for location. Otherwise, you'll be paying to park the car all day and/or paying subway fares for the whole family, to say nothing of time wasted in traveling when you could just be walking from a downtown hotel.

Note that many hotel chains guarantee to match the lowest rate you find on the Internet, and you have the advantage of dealing with them directly, insuring you are getting the best accommodations possible for your family. Don't be afraid to bargain; asking if the hotel can do a little better may very well help them to suddenly “discover” a better deal. You can't do that with a Web site. The following is a good selection of travel-related sites:

  • Priceline (www.priceline.com) works two ways. It will allow you to make bids on discounted hotel rooms, but you don't have control over the hotel that is chosen for you (you set the price and see what comes in). Priceline says all its hotels are members of major chains, and you can probably get a very good rate this way, but do your research before you book a room. Look up the hotels you're considering to make sure they are subway accessible and meet all of your criteria for location and comfort. You can also choose your hotel from a discounted list, the same way as you do with any of the following.

  • Expedia (www.expedia.com), Orbitz (www.orbitz.com), Hotwire (www.hotwire.com), and Travelocity (www.travelocity.com) all work the same way. They will give you a listing of hotels by location and price, along with photos. But make sure you look the hotel up elsewhere, as sometimes they are adjacent to seedier parts of town.

  • TripAdvisor (www.tripadvisor.com) is a great Web site that will give you fellow-traveler reviews as well as the best price on the Web for any hotel you are searching for.

  • Preferred Hotels and Resorts Worldwide (www.preferredhotels.com) is operated by Travelweb, which is a reservation system for the hotel industry.

  • Holiday Inn (www.holidayinn.com) lets you use its Web site to find packages and last-minute deals.

  • Radisson Hotel (www.radisson.com) is another hotel chain with possible discounts and packages offered through its Web site.

    • Using a site like Kayak or Sidestep can be beneficial. These sites pull rates from discount Web sites, and the hotels' Web sites, to let you find the best rates.

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