Do your homework
- You can call the hotel directly. Ask the hotel reservations staff the “occupancy rate” of the hotel for the dates you’ll be visiting. If the hotel is near full you won’t have as much bargaining power.
- To attempt to bargain with the hotel manager you must know the going rate, check out www.biddingfortravel.com, the website where travelers share their secrets on what they actually paid at Priceline.com. If the hotel you’re considering is listed on this site, simply offer the manager the Priceline rate, minus 5% which is the commission the hotel would have paid that agency. You’ll be surprised how well you can bargain.
