By Frank Macek
That's a mistake, because the hotel room is where a lot of trips quietly go sideways. A flight price is right there on the screen, easy to compare. A hotel total is often a moving target, too, padded with fees, taxes and add-ons you don't see until the last page of the booking. The good news is that this is the part of your trip where a little know-how pays off the most.
Start with the market itself. According to Hopper's 2026 Holiday Travel Index, Thanksgiving hotel rates are holding at about $170 a night, while Christmas stays have jumped 18 percent to roughly $197. That gap tells you where to be careful. If you're traveling for Thanksgiving, you have some breathing room. If Christmas week is your plan, the clock is ticking.
There's a bit of broader perspective, too. NerdWallet's travel cost index shows U.S. hotel and motel rates are down 1.8 percent over the past year, though they're still up 21.1 percent compared with a decade ago. In other words, rooms aren't getting cheaper in any lasting way, so the savings have to come from how you book.
If you're headed out at Christmas, don't wait for a price drop that may never come. Airlines have already said they aren't planning to cut fares, and a late scramble rarely helps. Decide where you're going, then lock in a flexible room while the choices are still wide.
Here are the tips I'd put to work right now, immediately.
1. Read the total, not the nightly rate.
This is the single biggest trap in hotel shopping. Since May 12, 2025, a Federal Trade Commission rule has required hotels and booking sites to show the full price, including mandatory fees, early and prominently in the booking process instead of waiting until checkout. That's real progress. But it doesn't ban resort fees. As the FTC's own guidance puts it, "Even with the Rule in place, sellers can still charge fees." The rule also doesn't reach taxes, so expect those on top.
So when you compare two hotels, compare the all-in totals side by side. A $150 room with a $45 daily fee costs more than a $175 room with nothing added.
2. Know what resort fees really cost.
Where they exist, resort fees, sometimes called destination or amenity fees, average about $33 a night, according to a NerdWallet study of 160 hotels. They typically run from roughly $15 to $50 a day, and they're most common in Las Vegas, Hawaii and Orlando. By brand, the study found average fees of $50 at Marriott, about $34 at Hyatt, $33 at Hilton, about $33 at IHG and $25 at Wyndham.
Do the math on a long stay. Five nights at $33 is $165 you never saw in the headline price.
The hotel industry defends the charge. The American Hotel & Lodging Association says the fees "provide customers value by bundling unique property amenities" at a lower cost than buying them separately. That can be true if you'll use the pool, the Wi-Fi and the fitness center. If you won't, you're helping pay for someone else's amenities.
3. Let your points do double duty.
Here's a trick many travelers miss. The NerdWallet study found that Hilton Honors and World of Hyatt waive resort fees on stays booked with points. Hyatt also waives them, on paid and award stays alike, for its top-tier Globalist members. If you're sitting on a stash of points, a resort-fee property may be exactly where to spend them, because you save the room rate and the fee.
4. Push back when a fee surprises you.
Christopher Elliott, founder of the traveler-advocacy service Elliott Advocacy, says timing matters: "If you catch it early enough, a polite complaint to a manager" can work. He also notes that, generally, you have the right to pay the rate you were first quoted. If you can prove in writing that the price you were quoted differs from what you were charged, he says you can dispute the charge with your credit card company.
The key word is polite. Front-desk agents don't set these fees, but a calm request at check-in, with your confirmation email in hand, is more likely to get a result than a blowup at checkout.
5. Book a refundable rate, then keep watching.
This one is simple, and it works. Choose a free-cancellation rate, lock in your room, and then check again every so often. If the price drops, rebook at the lower number and cancel the original. It takes about five minutes and costs you nothing at all, which is hard to beat.
Just read the cancellation window carefully, and put the deadline on your calendar so it doesn't slip past. Some rates are refundable only until a set number of days before arrival, and the deadline falls sooner than most people expect around the holidays.
6. Search smarter, and at odd hours.
Tim Hentschel, CEO and co-founder of HotelPlanner.com, has a few tricks worth trying. He suggests searching at off-peak times, such as early weekend mornings or late-night weekend hours, when there may be less competition and lower dynamic prices. He also recommends clearing your cookies or using an incognito window, since checking the same dates again and again can signal strong interest and may nudge prices up.
And there's the Tuesday effect. Hentschel says booking on a Tuesday can save around 5 to 8 percent compared with later-week prices, because "Then on Tuesday morning they'll update their systems and websites with deals and offers." Treat that as a ceiling to test rather than a promise, but it costs nothing to try.
7. Join the loyalty program, even for one stay.
Joining is free, and it can pay off right away. Hentschel notes that hotels with open rooms are more likely to offer upgrades in the low season, and belonging to the chain's loyalty program improves your odds. Members also commonly see a member rate that nonmembers don't. Before you book through a third-party site, check the hotel's own website, then compare. It takes a minute and can reveal a lower price or a perk the booking site leaves out.
8. Call the hotel directly.
It sounds old-fashioned, and it works. Online prices come from automated systems, but the person at the front desk can often see room types, packages and last-minute availability that the website doesn't show. Ask whether there's a better rate than the one online, whether any fees can be waived, and whether a different room category is cheaper. The worst answer you'll hear is no.
9. Be careful with brand-new hotels.
A shiny new property sounds appealing, but Hentschel warns against booking in a hotel's first weeks. Construction delays can mean amenities aren't ready, guests can be moved to a sister property, and cancellations can set off a scramble for rooms that pushes prices higher. Give a new hotel a month or two to settle in, and let other guests find the kinks first.
10. Shift your dates, even by a night.
You've probably noticed that airfares swing by the day. Hotels do the same. Weekend nights and the busiest holiday dates cost the most, and the nights just before and after a peak often cost less. If your plans have wiggle room, check the total for a night earlier or later before you book.
11. Count what's outside the room rate.
Parking, breakfast and Wi-Fi can quietly add up. In a big city, overnight parking can add up fast. A hotel that includes breakfast may beat a cheaper one that doesn't. Add up the extras for each option, and the cheapest sticker price isn't always the cheapest stay.
Put these together and the savings can be real. Start by comparing totals, avoid the fee traps, book flexibly, and keep an eye on the price after you buy. Think of it as a short checklist you can run in ten minutes before you click "book." It won't make the holiday season cheap, and nobody can promise that. It will make it a little less painful, and that's a win.
Frank's "3" Insider Tips
-
Compare the all-in total. Look at the full price with fees before you choose, and remember a lower nightly rate can cost more once a daily fee is added.
-
Spend points where the fees are. If you hold Hilton or Hyatt points, a points booking can wipe out the resort fee as well as the room rate.
-
Book refundable, then recheck. A free-cancellation room lets you rebook if the price falls, with nothing to lose.
Sources: Hopper 2026 Holiday Travel Index (via FOX Television Stations); NerdWallet hotel fee study and travel cost index (via Fox News and Yahoo); FTC all-in pricing rule, effective May 12, 2025 (via TripProf); HotelPlanner.com CEO Tim Hentschel (via Yahoo); Elliott Advocacy (via Fox News).
No comments:
Post a Comment