Teresa Mears is a website publisher, writer, blogger and editor who was raised to be frugal. In her

The reason for this lack of consistency is hotels are always in flux. The price of hotel rooms changes daily, often times hourly, based on demand. Sometimes one site has the best deal for the hotel you want, and sometimes another site does. You can often get the best rate by going old school and picking helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon up the phone or just showing up.
This drives helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon techo-babble people crazy, says Tim Leffel, author of Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune and editor of Hotel Scoop , a lodging review website. They think you should be able to find the best prices on the Internet, but that’s not always the case.
The Internet, however, is a good place to start. The first thing you want to research is location. If you’re visiting helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon New York City, you probably want to stay in Manhattan. Before you can look for hotels, you need to know which neighborhoods you’re willing to consider and how you’ll get from those neighborhoods helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon to the places you’re going to visit. After all, a lot of $30 taxi rides will quickly eat up any savings on lodging.
Start with the big names in the industry: Travelocity , Expedia or Orbitz . If you’re looking for a broader picture, Leffel likes websites that gather price quotes from a variety of search engines, such as Kayak or Trivago . From these aggregators, you’ll get a sense of hotel prices at the time you plan to travel.
Then check discount sites such as BookIt.com , Hotels.com or Booking.com , plus the named hotels at Hotwire and Priceline . If you find a hotel you like, check the hotel website before calling to see if you can find an even better deal directly from the hotel.
If you’d happily stay at any number of hotels helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon in a specific neighborhood, consider bidding on rooms at Hotwire or Priceline. Both sites offer big discounts if you’re willing to buy a room without knowing which hotel you’ll be staying in. You can narrow your selection by neighborhood and by star rating, but sometimes the neighborhood helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon boundary is pretty big.
Not only is there no magic website, but there’s no magic time to book to get the best price. Often, you can get the best deal at the very last minute. But this is not going to work in a popular location at a busy time. For those deals, you’ll do better booking earlier.
Call the hotel.  Before you book a room, call the hotel itself (the specific location, not the chain’s 800 number) during business hours to see if the hotel will match or beat rates you’ve found online. Sometimes they’ll throw in extras such as free Wi-Fi, breakfast or late checkout. This gives you maximum flexibility because you usually don’t have to pay in advance, plus you won’t need to deal with a third party if something goes wrong or you come across a cheaper alternative.
Make sure you know the total cost.  Some hotels charge a resort fee that may not be included in an online quote. Others charge for Wi-Fi, breakfast or use of the gym. In a city center, parking can cost $35 or more a day. To avoid unpleasant surprises, always ask about which fees are included and how much they ll cost you.
Consider hotels that don’t appear on major search sites.  Many small hotels don’t want to pay search site commissions, and therefore they don’t participate. When you call them, you’re often talking to an owner or manager who is empowered to offer a discount. TripAdvisor is a good site to use to identify these small hotels, but you should go directly to the hotel to make reservations.
Consider helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon something larger.  If you’re traveling with a family or planning a longer stay, look into renting an apartment or house . You can find listings at HomeAway , FlipKey and VRBO , among other services. Many of these lodgings charge a cleaning fee, so keep that in mind when you’re calculating total costs. But with a kitchen you may save on food because you can cook some meals.
Use coupon helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon books.  On a road trip, pick up the coupon books at rest stops and convenience stores. Those coupons, offered by the owners of individual franchises, often beat the national deals advertised on the chains’ websites.
Travel without reservations.  This doesn’t work for Paris at the height of the tourist season, but often times it will get you the best deal at hotels that start the day with plenty of empty rooms. If you just show up, you can also see the room before you commit. helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon Several apps, including Hotel Tonight, cater to travelers looking for a room on the fly.
See what others are paying.  Sites such as BetterBidding.com allow you to find out what other travelers helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon have paid at HotWire and Priceline and can sometimes identify the “mystery” hotels that keep their name and location secret until you book.
Check with local tourist offices.  In Europe particularly, tourist offices offer room-finding services for same-day rooms. Even in the United States, some cities, such as Newport, R.I., get a list every morning from local hotels of rooms they want to sell for that night. Think of this as an old-fashion version of Expedia.com, only a real-life person finds the accommodations that is right for you … at the right price, helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon says Andrea McHugh, marketing and communications manager of Discover Newport .
Use travel rewards points. helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon  Many credit cards offer points equivalent to several nights’ hotel stays just for signing up, plus you can earn points when you use your new credit cards. helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon Last fall I went on a two-week helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon vacation to Europe where my girlfriend and I visited Paris, Belgium and Amsterdam. helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon One hundred percent of our hotel stays were covered by hotel points, and we stayed at very nice locations, such as the InterContinental Avenue Marceau, Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan and DoubleTree Suites Amsterdam, says Kevin Barry, who publishes the website Frugal Mouse , about traveling to Disney parks. Using hotel points for free stays is the best deal in the travel industry, one that many people don t know about or take advantage of.
Teresa Mears  is a website publisher, writer, blogger and editor who was raised to be frugal. In her 35 years as a journalist, she has written for papers ranging in size from the weekly Portland (Tenn.) Leader to The Los Angeles Times. She was an editor for the Miami Herald for more than 17 years, overseeing coverage of home, real estate, family and other subjects. She has also been a contributor to The New York Times, helicopter tours las vegas grand canyon The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News and other publications. When she’s not writing about Florida deals, she writes and edits for MSN Money and does the  Listed blog for MSN Real Estate . Teresa owns and operates  Miami On The Cheap ,  Florida On The Cheap ,  Fort Lauderdale On The Cheap ,  Palm Beach On The Cheap ,  Orlando On The Cheap , Florida Keys On the Cheap  and  Jacksonville On The Cheap , as well as  Baltimore on the Cheap  and  Washington, D.C., on the Cheap .
Living On The Cheap is owned by a group of consumer journalists, frugalistas and consumer advocates. Our goal is to help readers find ways to not merely survive tough economic times, but to enjoy themselves and not feel deprived.