Most travelers book a hotel and never look back. I do the opposite \u2014 and it recently saved me 7,000 points and $31 on upcoming stays. By booking flexible rates early and checking back for price drops, I’ve turned a quick habit into one of the easiest ways I save points and cash.<\/p>\n
In practice, this doesn’t require much time or effort. Checking my 34 upcoming hotel reservations takes less than 30 minutes. After all, checking current rates is quick, and I don’t need to check award rates for bookings in programs like Wyndham Rewards<\/a> and World of Hyatt<\/a>, which have fixed award charts and therefore won’t drop in award price.<\/p>\n I book a freely cancellable stay as soon as I know I need to visit a particular destination on specific dates. Even if the rates are exceptionally high \u2014 as they were for a stay in Vancouver, British Columbia, last summer and an upcoming trip to Adelaide, Australia, this spring \u2014 I’ve learned to secure something and then keep checking<\/a>. After all, while rates may drop, they often keep rising.<\/p>\n Then, I check my upcoming hotel bookings for price drops about once a week. In weeks when I have a little extra time, I’ll also restart my search for certain destinations from scratch, considering whether a different property or booking method might provide better value than what I’ve already booked.<\/p>\n Although I’ve been doing these checks for years, I only recently started writing down the price drops as I captured them. So, here are the price drops I captured in my two most recent weekly checks:<\/p>\n Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter<\/p>\n Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG\u2019s experts<\/p>\n\n
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