Find Cheap Housing

While we all have different living requirements, everyone loves paying less.

Top tips to find cheap hotels

Not all tips apply in all scenarios, but they're worth having in your toolbelt.

1. Use Google hotel search

Google hotel search is a "meta" search engine. It searches all hotel search engines at once, Booking.com, Expedia, etc.. It then provides all prices to you.

What I do:

1. Enter destination and dates

Sometimes cheap flights dictates where I'm going. Sometimes I've already narrowed it down

2. Set filters

Depends on the trip and who I'm with. I'll typically set:

• Free Wi-Fi
• Free breakfast (can save a few bucks)
• Guest rating 4.0+

Some additiona filters, pending the trip:

• Pool - if somewhere tropical
• Gym - if longer stay

3. Sort by - lowest price

4. Explore the map

Zoom in if: you're already narrowed in on the city are exploring neighborhoods

Zoom out if: you're letting the hotel dictate what city/country you travel to.

This can be an incredible hack for finding cheap hotels (same as flights). Let the map help dicate where you're going.

2. Last minute deals - HotelTonight (opens in a new tab)

Normally I don't advice booking from 3rd party services, like Hotwire, Expedia, Booking.com. I use them as research tools, similar to Google Flights.

Reasons why:

• Cancelling/changing can be difficult
• Limited customer service
• Cheaper to go direct to hotel
• Don't earn points

Hotel Tonight is the exception.

It is partially the exception because of the nature of the booking. Use it if you are looking to book a flight that same day or within the next few days. You're probably less likely to cancel plans, due to the nature of the booking.

You an get some absurd deals.

3. Hot rate hotel services

Depending on your current situation and flexilibity, you may want to consider using last minute deal sites. The two I use:

• Hotwire (opens in a new tab)
• Priceline (opens in a new tab) (Note - they offer less hot rate deals these days)

4. Use mobile apps

Sites want you to download and use their mobile app.

Hotels benefit:

• Sticker experience for the customer
• Can track and collect more data

You benefit:

• Can have cheaper prices
• Better booking experience

Top tips to find cheap AirBnbs

1. Book for 1 month+

If you are staying for a month or more, you'll typically see discounts. The discounts can range, but usualy can be up to 25% off.

Note - if you are stay for 3 weeks, try searching an extra week longer. With the discount, 1 month may be cheaper than 3 weeks.

2. Contact the owner

You may have to do a little bit of work to get the best deal.

With AirBnb, you're dealing with a person, not a representative of a company. Many are willing to give discounts, especially if you can express interest and show you're a good host.

• Message 1 - Ask specific questions to show that you're interested
• Message 2 - Reassure them you're a good host & then ask for discount

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