It’s almost summer and time to plan for that long-desired vacation—from choosing the dream destination to booking flights and hotel rooms. But, be ready for pricier flight tickets and hotel bookings, for there is revenge travelling still happening post the pandemic.
Ajay Awtaney, founder, LiveFromALounge.com (LFAL), an Indian aviation and travel-focussed website, says airfares and hotel tariffs are likely to stay high. Besides, in view of events such as the ongoing G20 summit and the Women’s IPL, a lot of good inventory (hotel rooms) in certain cities is already out of bounds for most people.
That said, here are a few options to help you get some deals and discounts on hotel bookings.
Holiday in style
According to Awtaney, those looking for deals at leading hotel chains such as the Taj, Marriott and Hilton etc., should book directly on the hotel website. Many such hotels offer festive season or round-the-year offers on direct bookings. Some of these offers may, however, apply to only select properties.
Many large hotel chains have several properties spread across the country offering a wide range of room tariffs. So, as long as you are flexible with your dates and destination, you could get rooms at tariffs that are relatively lower than what one would normally expect for a five-star service experience.
You can also sign up for membership or loyalty programmes offered by different chain hotels. As you accumulate loyalty or reward points with every booking, you can use them to pay for future bookings. But as with any offer, do remember to read the terms and conditions for these loyalty programmes. For instance, certain properties (or brands) of a hotel chain may not be eligible for earning loyalty points. In which case, bookings made at such properties may not fetch you any points. Also, watch out for blackout dates – certain dates (festivals and peak season) on which no offers and promotions apply as these are high-demand days for hotels.
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Apart from loyalty programmes offered by hotel chains, one can also check out the offers by online travel agencies (OTAs). However, these could work differently. For example, over the course of three years, you book 10 nights of stay at different hotels via your account with a particular OTA. Then, you could be eligible for one night of free stay on your next booking.
Credit card offers
You can pocket some discounts on hotel bookings with bank credit cards, too. Awtaney points out that most OTAs such as MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, Booking.com, Goibibo, etc., offer discounts on bookings made using certain bank credit cards on specific days.
For instance, Axis Bank credit and debit card holders can get a flat 15% (up to ₹5,000) off on hotel bookings made via Goibibo on Wednesdays. Those with an ICICI Bank credit card can get a flat 14% discount (up to ₹5,000) on hotel bookings made via MakeMyTrip every week from Monday to Wednesday. As per the Goibibo and MakeMyTrip websites, these offers are on until 29 March.
But it’s the American Express credit cards that stand out for their offers. With the Amex Travel card, you can get discounted room tariffs or an extra night of stay on a booking for, say, 3-4 nights at many luxury hotels. “While some other banks too offer such deals on their credit cards, the curation by American Express is great,” says Awtaney. You can find these on the ‘latest offers’ section on the American Express website.
Apart from discounts on hotel bookings paid for with a bank credit card, many banks also allow you to transfer your credit card reward points to the loyalty programmes of partner hotels and airlines. For example, you can transfer your Axis Bank debit and credit card reward points to the loyalty programmes of hotel partners such as Marriott International (Marriott Bonvoy), ITC Hotels (Club ITC). The transfer ratio varies depending on the bank card you hold. For instance, with Axis Bank’s Burgundy Private credit card, five reward points get converted into four partner points. And, with its Privilege credit card, 10 reward points get converted into one partner point for Marriott Bonvoy. The transfer ratio is better at 5:1 points for Club ITC with the bank’s Privilege credit card.
Take your pick from the different offers and deals that are available to travellers. Unlike bank debit and credit cards that entail a charge, many loyalty programmes require only a free sign up. Remember though, with the surge in travel demand, there’s only so much that you can hope to save on hotel tariffs.