How to Earn Hotel Discounts

Posted by rlashea on July 19, 2010

Plenty of popular websites offer discount hotel deals. The best deals are generally offered during the low season when hotels are sitting empty and management needs to put bodies in the rooms to keep revenue flowing. During the high season, usually the summer months, when more people are more likely to be on vacation, especially those who have kids, you can earn those discount prices.

Sign up for the points programs for hotel chains that you stay at regularly. Hotel points programs are free and, once you have built up enough points, you can book completely free rooms. If you don’t have enough points for a free room though, most hotel programs allow you to buy additional points, which can be considerably cheaper than the full room rate.

Shop online. Many hotel points programs allow you to earn extra points when shopping online. Instead of going directly to a retailer’s website, log on to the hotel’s website with the username and password you created for your account and click the “Shop” or “Shopping Rewards” link. If the online store you plan to shop at is listed in the partner shopping links, click through the link on the hotel website and earn a set number of points for every dollar spent.

Become a member of a travel group. Members of AAA and AARP’s travel group earn discounts at hotels. These discounts vary from hotel chain to hotel chain and are outlined on the company’s websites and in the literature usually sent to you by mail when you sign up as a member.

Buy a membership with a shopping club, such as Sam’s or Costco. People who are members to either of these bulk discount retail chains get some hotel discounts automatically, as well as discounts in other travel-related areas, such as car rentals. Costco members, for instance, get discounts at both Hyatt and Best Western hotel chains. When using a shopping club membership discount for hotels, you generally have to book your rooms through the shopping club’s booking line.

Volunteer at your destination. While this option is not as widely available as others, volunteering is possibly one of the most rewarding ways to earn hotel discounts. If your destination has a need for volunteerism, hotels in the area may offer discounts to willing helpers. After Hurricane Katrina, for instance, hotels in New Orleans were offering discounts to Habitat for Humanity volunteers. For a few hours of work a day, you get a whole night to take in the city. To find out which volunteer organizations offer hotel discounts, go to the Volunteer Vacations section of the Charity Guide website. Choose a cause from the list provided and the site displays volunteer opportunities associated with that cause.