Tip #2: How to Book Cheap Hotels in USA
Even though US dollars have weaken a fair bit recently, USA is still an expensive country. Tourists visiting USA for the first time may find choosing an affordable hotel a frustrating and daunting task. On average, a 3.5 to 4 star hotel in New York City would cost a whopping USD280 to USD500 per night (or more). However, with the right online hotel booking websites and discounts, you can definitely avoid spending a hefty sum on hotels in USA.
Having spent around 5 months in USA, I have certainly tried various methods to book a cheap hotel. And by far, I have a personal favorite. From my experience, by making your bookings on www.priceline.com, you could save up to 65% on a hotel’s daily published rates. For example, The Hilton Millennium located in the heart of New York City’s financial district – Soho, a typical daily rate would cost between USD360 and USD440. But I managed to get a room at USD196 (taxes inclusive) through Priceline. Let’s some real savings indeed!
Priceline or Expedia
With the Priceline’s “Name Your Own Price” booking feature, users could suggest their own price for any range of hotels in any specified locations. You could simply suggest USD200 for a 4-star hotel in New York City Soho area and the system would churn out a list of hotels within your budget range accordingly. However, there is a catch to this. Once booking and payments are made, changes are strictly prohibited. Also, the name of the hotel would only be revealed upon confirmation. Hence, this method of hotel bookings is not advisable for travelers on a flexible itinerary.
Having said that, other US based websites such as www.expedia.com provides competitive rates as well.
Tip: In general, avoid booking a hotel from non-US based websites. Hotels featured on these websites are generally priced at a higher rate.
