When and Where to Book Hotel Rooms to Get the Best Rate

To get the best rate on hotels using online travel agencies, book your stay on a Sunday, according to a recently released study by Expedia. However, don’t book on Sunday for the following Saturday as that will land you the heftiest price. The next best time to reserve lodging to get the lowest rate is 3 to 4 weeks before traveling.

Expedia’s study also determined that a prime way to save money on hotels is by booking rooms that are not in the heart of a city’s downtown, but in a nearby neighborhood.

To come up with its conclusions, Expedia, an online travel planning and booking site, analyzed hotel travel trends for the first half of 2016.

Expedia.com’s Checking In: Hotel Trends

Increased hotel bookings. Stays in hotels rose 33% for the 12 months ending June 2016 over the previous 12 months.

Price is important: Most travelers select hotels based on price.

Most popular hotels: Three-star hotels are booked most often by Expedia’s users.

Brexit effect: As a result of the Brexit vote (the vote for Great Britain to leave the European Union), international travelers were looking to spend more nights in United Kingdom hotels, ostensibly because of the increased buying power of the US dollar.

Seasonal variations: Expedia finds that, in general, the lowest average daily rates (ADRs) for hotels were in November and January and the highest ADRs were in July, August and March, respectively. The findings vary by region. November and January’s low rates are for destinations in which these months are shoulder or low season.

Expedia’s Alternative City Neighborhoods for Lower Hotel Rates

Expedia’s alternative hotel locations within a city remind budget-conscious travelers of ways to save money if they are willing to commute to the museums, parks, and other attractions of a city they are visiting. Sometimes, however, I think Expedia, goes off the mark recommending an entirely different city that requires a long commute to get to what a traveler would like to experience.

New Orleans: Expedia suggests hotels in the scenic Garden District.

New York City: Financial District.

Miami: Fort Lauderdale, as Expedia states, can offer less expensive flights to the Miami area, but Fort Lauderdale is not a suburb of Miami, but a very different city.

San Francisco: Oakland.

Seattle: Expedia recommends Tacoma, which is an hour away from Seattle by public transportation, a commute that could get tiresome for a visitor.