When planning a trip, hotel bookings advance. Based on the place you are traveling to and the number of days you will stay, you can decide on the expense. As hotel room prices fluctuate, you must plan and book your trip accordingly.
Choosing the right hotel after doing proper research can help you to get the same convenience and accommodation at a lesser price.
You might get a lot of suggestions from different people, like booking at the last minute or two weeks before you plan to travel, it is not true.
Remember that if you want to choose the best hotel, you have to keep an eye on it. They are not always available at a reasonable price. Prices generally start rising during the check-in date.
So, if you want to know more about when do hotels lower their rates or do hotel prices fluctuate daily, make sure that you read this guide to learn more about it.
Can A Hotel Room Be Booked For A Few Hours?
Are hotel room prices more likely to fluctuate during specific times of the year?
Yes. Seasons play a huge role in deciding hotel room prices. Most of the hotel rooms have their prices changed during certain times of the year. You must have knowledge about the location and the in-season timing. Generally, during such times of the year, the places receive a lot of visitors, and the prices are likely to soar. But, when you check the price of the same hotel during the off-season, you will find that they’re comparatively cheaper.
Business travelers can often visit the location during the off-season so that they can make huge savings on hotel room prices. Apart from this, vacationers who have flexible schedules can also take benefit of booking hotels during the off-season as they will be able to enjoy the same place at a reasonable price.
Generally, hotel room prices fluctuate during a season when the prices go higher. Even though the off-season pricing is much more reasonable, the weather is not always suitable, which is one of the pre-dominating reasons for increased crowds and prices.
How do online booking platforms influence hotel room price fluctuations?
The evolution of technology has strongly influenced the hospitality industry. hotel bookings advance has become a common thing across the world. When it comes to booking hotel rooms, most people start using online booking platforms.
The reason is that these platforms have easier payment processes, speedier check-in and provide quite a huge number of selections.
These are the reasons why online booking platforms can help you to choose hotel rooms at a much more economical price rate. These platforms provide you with quite a large number of options of different hotels along with providing important information like ratings and reviews and the amenities and help visitors to make an informed decision.
Additionally, online booking platforms often provide their valuable users with exclusive promotion offers and discounts. Taking advantage of this discount offers, you will be able to book the same hotel at a much cheaper price.
As the convenience provided by these platforms is much higher and does not need any legwork, online platforms are most commonly chosen by vacationers.
Best Day To Book a Hotel
Top 9 Best Hotel Membership Program In India
It has been surveyed by different travel agencies, and they have agreed that the best days to book a hotel are Fridays and Saturdays.
Booking on Sunday can be very expensive as this is the time when most people choose to visit. Hence, the prices generally go up. Another cheap way to get a hotel reservation done is to book hotels before 2 to 3 weeks.
There are many hotels that drop the prices 15 days prior to the date of reservation to increase their sales. However, it is strongly based on holidays, seasons and the kind of hotel you’re choosing for reservation.
When do hotels lower their rates?
There is a need for vacation hours to realize one single thing the more they wait, the better deals they get. Hence, you must start looking for hotels in advance. According to the top agencies, it has been answered that the magic happens after 4 PM.
The prices of hotels will keep decreasing throughout the day, but if there are still some empty rooms available in the hotel by 4 PM, they will start providing great deals or discounts on the rates. This is a part of their marketing to make sure that all the hotel rooms get booked. The deals can be even 30% of the normal Hotel rate.
So, make sure to choose the best day to book a hotel, like on a Friday or Saturday after 4 PM, to get great deals and discounts.
What factors contribute to fluctuations in hotel room prices?
To understand why hotel room prices fluctuate, it is important for you to pay attention to the different factors. Understanding these factors will allow you to make informed decisions and get a hotel booked at a cheaper price. So following are some of the major elements to influence hotel room prices.
Time:
One of the most influencing factors in this industry is the time of the year you are choosing to travel. It has a huge impact on hotel prices. Choosing the peak seasons, like holidays or events, would also invite several other tourists to the same place.
This will raise the price higher as the businesses would try to make the most of it. Therefore, when you choose the off seasons, you will find the same hotel rates at a much lesser price.
Day:
Many visitors would like to know do hotel prices fluctuate daily, and the answer is yes. Hotel prices generally fluctuate depending on the day you are planning to book it. Typically, weekdays have the same hotels at a cheaper rate, while weekends have higher rates.
The reason is that most people choose weekends to travel, and the hospitality industry takes advantage. Since business travelers generally choose weekdays, they can get the same hotel at a lower price.
Amenities and ratings:
When you choose the online platform to book your hotel, you will certainly check the ratings and amenities provided by them. These are the two major things that would affect the price point. Hotels that provide you with great amenities like fitness centers, spas, pools, complimentary breakfast, dining rooms, and several other amenities would certainly cost you higher. Additionally, a hotel that has great ratings and reviews would also have higher pricing compared to others.
Booking method:
As we have already discussed, the booking method you choose will have a clear impact on the price. When you choose online booking platforms, you will certainly get a lot of exclusive promotional offers and discounts.
Therefore, you will be able to book the same hotel at a discounted price rate. However, there are certain scenarios when walk-in bookings also provide you the opportunity to reduce rates as there are chances of negotiation. Even then, online bookings would be way better for first-time travelers who don’t want to take any risks.
Location:
Undeniably the location you are choosing would have a clear impact on the price. If the location of the hotel is situated in a proper area from where you can get a clear view of major attractions, it will certainly cost you higher.
Suppose you are choosing to visit the mountains, if you are looking for a hotel that would give you a panoramic view of the mountains, it will definitely cost higher compared to other hotels.
How can I find the best deals on hotel rooms despite fluctuations in prices?
Now that you have checked the factors that affect hotel room prices let us find out some basic tips to help you get the best deals on hotel rooms, despite the fluctuation in hotel room prices.
You must be flexible: For every budget traveler, it is important to be as flexible as possible. Make sure to keep the travel dates flexible so that you can easily take advantage of the off-season. Since the rates are usually lower during weekdays and off-season, it is important for you to be flexible on the date so that you can save.
Advance booking: With the availability of online platforms, you can easily schedule the reservation in advance. This is particularly better to do. Suppose you are planning to visit in a peak season to get a better rate. Planning and booking ahead of time will provide you with the opportunity to get a discounted rate even when you decide to visit during the peak season.
Compare prices: You can make use of online platforms to find out the prices offered by different hotels. You can choose similar-level hotels and take a look into the details they’re offering to their customers. It is better to check the official website of the hotel as there are times when they provide exclusive discounts, even on direct booking.
What’s the usual price range for hotel room fluctuations, and how significant can the changes be?
The changes in the hotel room price can be very prominent. Generally, seasons are the most important factor that causes the fluctuation. There can be a huge fluctuation, especially in terms of season.
If you are planning to visit the most expensive places in the US during summer, here, we will check how it will have a clear impact on the cities where the peak season is during summer.
- Ocean City: The hotels will usually be available from $235 in summer as it is the peak season. However, the same hotel in winter would cost you $102.
- Seattle: Seattle is a popular location. If you plan to visit during summer, the hotels generally start from $302 in summer, while in winter, they will be available at $179.
- Jackson: It is again a popular place where you get the hotels starting from $148 in summer and $99 in winter.
How do different types of hotels (e.g., luxury vs. budget) handle price fluctuations?
You will generally find budget and luxury hotels. However, hotel room prices fluctuate for all sorts of hotels to get customers.
Generally, whether it is a budget hotel or a luxury hotel, they generally follow a dynamic pricing strategy. This analyzes the nonstop demands and adjusts the rates to get the optimal response from customers as per the time. Therefore, hotels generally keep track of the real-time market, data like events, government restrictions, competitors, and flight booking trends to decide and handle price fluctuation.
However, the luxury hotels that are located in the major locations might have minimal elasticity as they only cater to premium-class customers. Whereas, for budget hotels, there can be higher elasticity in the price based on the location, amenities, season, day and staying tenure.
Conclusion
So, you have to make sure that you keep trying and looking for the hotels in advance. Now that you have got some knowledge about why hotel room prices fluctuate, now you will be able to decide on the right date and time. Additionally, also pay attention to the channel or platform. You are choosing to book a hotel in order to leverage its advantages.
