3 Insider Travel Hacks That Will Help you save More Money on Flights and Hotels – Credit Sesame

I try difficult to save money on flights and hotels by redeeming the miles and points I earn with my travel charge cards. But sometimes, the only option would be to pay cash: either “saver-level” flight award space isn't available, chain hotels where I have points are sold out, or even the available award space simply fails with my schedule.

Just as you have to pay cash for your travel does not mean you cannot save money on reservations. Listed here are three rules and tricks that travel hackers use to save money once they absolutely have to pay cash for his or her travel reservations.

1. Find the best rate guarantees

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All the main hotel chains offer some form of a “best rate guarantee.” These generally take the type of promises when you discover the same room, by having an identical cancellation policy, offered publicly anywhere besides around the hotel's own website, they'll match the speed – and toss in an additional benefit too.

For reference, here are the very best rate guarantees for some of the largest hotel chains in the world. The conditions and terms are very detailed; read them before you decide to book.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts: 20% discount off the better rate found elsewhere.

Hilton Hotels and Resorts: match the greater rate, and give a $50 credit.

Marriott Hotels & Resorts: 25% discount off the better rate.

Hyatt Hotels: 20% discount from the rate plan.

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group: 25% discount off the better rate.

InterContinental Hotel Group: match the better rate, and provide the very first night free.

The potential discounts offered by these best rate guarantees mean it's essential to shop around for better rates online before booking a hotel night through one of the major chains. If you discover a much better rate, usually within Twenty four hours of making your reservation, you can save hundreds of dollars off your stay.

As always, browse the conditions and terms of every best rate guarantee closely, because the chains can make it difficult to tell whether a lower rate qualifies for that guarantee or not.

2. Make the most of Skiplagged

You might have read about Skiplagged when they were recently sued by United Airlines and Orbitz for offering users so-called “hidden city” tickets. Hidden city ticketing describes booking a trip out of your origin to a final destination, with the actual intention to exit at a connecting airport.

The reason hidden city ticketing is becoming very popular is the fact that airlines often charge less for flights connecting through their hubs than they do for flights beginning or ending in a hub city.

To take an example from Skiplagged's website, a non-stop flight from Minneapolis to Detroit on Delta in April costs $426. Exactly the same trip, with an added leg from Detroit to Orlando International Airport, costs just $121! You can simply exit manchester international in Detroit, so within this example Detroit may be the “hidden city.”

Before using Skiplagged, you need to understand the risks: if your initial flight (the one you actually wish to take) is delayed or canceled, you might be routed for your final destination via a different hub than the one you planned to end up at, which can be an expensive mistake to get out of.

Additionally, when using hidden city tickets, you can't check any bags, since they will be sent to one last ticketed destination, not the hidden city where you intend to actually exit the airport!

3. Use shopping portals an internet-based travel agencies to stack savings

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Even if you can't obtain a best rate guarantee approved, you can still save money on every single hotel reservation you make, through the strategic utilization of shopping online portals.

Shopping portals are websites where you can earn a rebate, by means of cash, airmiles, or hotel points, when you start your web shopping there.

The process is straightforward: after creating a merchant account with the shopping portal you want to use, you sign in and click through to the web site where you plan to shop. Then, complete your transaction as always.

For example, when you join TopCashBack (for me among the best shopping online portals), searching their database for Hilton, and after clicking through to Hilton's website earn 4% cash back on any reservations you are making in that online session.

You can increase your discount even further by clicking right through to a web-based travel agency, since those companies run their very own rewards programs. Hotels.com, for instance, has a rewards program that offers customers a free hotel night for each 10 nights they book through Hotels.com, which works to a 10% discount on every reservation made through Hotels.com.

But since Hotels.com also participates in shopping portals like TopCashBack, you can generate 7% cash back in the shopping portal and another 10% discount from Hotels.com. Needless to say, those savings add up fast!

Get the most for your travel dollars

Unfortunately, travel companies don't allow it to be easy to obtain the best prices around the products they provide. In the case of hidden city ticketing, they'll even charge you more for a short non-stop flight compared to an extended, much more fuel-intensive ticket! That's just crazy.

Fortunately, using these tools it can save you money on most or all of the travel reservations you have to make with cash, rather than rewards currencies.