Find accommodation with Hotels.com
Find accommodation with Hotels is a valid alternative to Booking.com but few always use it and very few try to compare the prices for the same accommodations on the two sites. A big mistake!
Hotels is a site that is part of the partner (and owned) sites of the Group Expedia.it
We are faced with a real giant in the Travel sector that owns dozens of websites and uses thousands of partnership with tour operators all over the world.
Find accommodation with Hotels: register on the site.
The first thing you need to keep in mind is that you are faced with a digital giant with resources limited only by privacy laws regarding the tracking of data and your actions on the websites that belong to it.
This awareness must be your guide in taking actions aimed at obtaining the maximum result when you intend to purchase a service.
The first trick I recommend you to put into practice is to immediately register on the Hotels.com site using the authentication method with Facebook or Google credentials.
Be careful to use the same authentication method you used to sign up for Expedia!
If you will use the same account (Facebook or Google) to authenticate yourself to both sites (Expedia and Hotels) you can be sure that the algorithm will communicate your presence on both and your actions on the websites will be related.
Being aware of the monitoring carried out by the algorithm puts you in an advantageous position and will determine your choices when you are about to find accommodation with Hotels.
Finding accommodation with Hotels: preliminary operations
As soon as you have registered on the site you must carry out some preliminary operations that will serve to communicate to the algorithm that you are a quality user and that will begin to increase your "rank" which will affect the way in which the site will react to your requests. .
- Subscribe to the newsletter.
- Download the Hotels App on your smartphone.
- Sign up for the “Hotels.com REWARDS
In this way you will immediately communicate that you intend to return to the site several times to buy accommodation and services.
Especially the service Hotels.comREWARDS it is an opportunity to take advantage of if you are a serial traveler as, by registering, you can have numerous advantages:
- By accumulating "Stamps" you will be entitled to a free night in a hotel with an average price compared to those booked.
You are entitled to a stamp for each night booked and, once i ten stamps you can request your free overnight stay.
To accumulate points you must Login before booking.
To accumulate points faster you can book overnight stays for your friends or relatives.
You will receive the "Stamps" in your account within 72 hours of checking in at the booked hotels. - If the difference between your “Bonus” overnight stay is in excess, you will pay the difference but if it is not, you will lose the difference. So you should use the Bonuses to book accommodation slightly higher than the value you deserve to stay in a good hotel at a very low price or, if you are very good, paying a difference of a few euros.
- You can accumulate "Bonus Nights" and then use them all at once! 100 stamps correspond to 10 days of free stay!
- Remember to book your stay paid with the "Bonus Nights" through the App because, if you don't, you will have to pay a supplement of € 4.00 per night. By booking using the App everything is free (apart from differences).
- Remember that the accumulated "Stamps" are valid for 12 months. So you have to use them within this time.
- Members of the “Hotels.comREWARDS” program are also entitled to exclusive benefits which increase as the accumulated "Stamps" increase:
0-9 Stamps: access to Hotels "Secret Rates"
10-29 Price Guarantee Plus (if you find a better price than the one you booked on Hotels you are entitled to ask to realign the price to what you found on other booking sites) and Priority Customer Service
and with more than 30 "Stamps" you are entitled to all the benefits of the Silver level and more: free room upgrade, early check-in and late check-out in VIP Access facilities. Subject to availability.
Finding accommodation with Hotels: features to exploit
If you want to find accommodation with Hotels, I recommend that you make the most of the potential that the site offers you.
As with all other websites that sell travel services, the smartest trick you can use is to reverse your purchase process.
You do not have to look for accommodation for the travel destination you have chosen but, instead, you must first look for the most convenient accommodation and only after booking at the best rate organize the trip.
In reality, the stages of finding accommodation and searching for travel tickets should proceed in unison and end only when the combination of the best price for accommodation and the best price for travel tickets is perfect.
In this case, the features to be exploited are:
- "The most visited cities"
- "The most requested regions and countries"
The site offers a series of “most requested” cities, regions and countries which it claims to be the “most visited” by users.
While I am led to believe this version, on the other I think that in this list Hotels proposes the cities in which they "want" to sell more accommodations or those in which promotions are active.
The reasons may be many but, perhaps, due to a series of circumstances in those days the hotels in "Rome" are partially empty and the managers have lowered their prices to encourage bookings.
In one version or another, there is no doubt that in the list of "Most visited cities" or "Most requested regions and countries" proposed by Hotels there are good offers to evaluate.
Find accommodation with hotels: Last Minute Offers
If the "Last Minute" time in which it was possible to go to the airport (with a swimsuit and coat in the suitcase) and leave for any destination after purchasing the tickets at the last minute has passed (due to advanced marketing strategies implemented by airlines) the "Last Minute" for booking accommodation still work.
In particular, if you want to find accommodation with hotels, you have one available entire page dedicated to "Last Minute":
Again, I suggest you use the site by doing the process in reverse: first find the offer and then organize the trip.
Finding accommodation with Hotels in this case is very simple and the site is very similar to Booking.com and all the others: you can enter the date of arrival and departure, use the filters to view only the results in line with your needs and book your accommodation.
The strategies I told you in Post dedicated to Booking they are therefore also applicable in this case.
I recommend that you follow all the advice I have collected in "How to choose a hotel”To be really sure you don't make any mistakes.
Finally, I remind you to consult all the sites you know before booking an accommodation!
The industry is very competitive and it is very easy for you to find different rates for the same room on the same day on sites like Airbnb or Momondo.
If you have already booked with Hotels, do not worry! As I have already told you, you can ask for the rate to be aligned with the lower price you found!
If you read this Blog you are an enterprising traveler and I want to invite you to live a unique experience.
We are forming one Community of Travelers who will exclusively test the functions of the new digital platform we have created to organize and plan trips and holidays in total autonomy and avoiding any form of intermediation.
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When you return from a trip you are in possession of valuable information: hotels, restaurants, tourist guides, the experiences you have lived!
These are information that you will never use again but which are indispensable for those who want to make a trip similar to yours.
If you have lived an unforgettable experience, you have brought home all the information necessary to replicate it!
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