I used to book hotels, flights, and car rentals, and never think about them again until it was time for the trip. During my journey to becoming a serious Budget Traveler, I discovered that prices can drop for various reasons after you make your reservation.
It started several years ago when I noticed a Southwest Airlines fare sale after booking some flights. I checked the same flight with the sale prices, and it was significantly lower. So I called Southwest and had them reprice the flight. They can do this whether you pay by cash or points. It was a simple process and an Aha moment for me.
Now I watch for sale alerts and periodically check all my reservations before trips. You would be surprised how many times I find a significant price drop that saves me a lot of money on my trip costs. Saving money on travel costs leaves more money in my trip budget for fun and food.
My daughter and I have our annual Girls Getaway trip coming up in 2 weeks. Today, I was reviewing aspects of a room I had booked when I noticed a 15% off sale at Hilton. I did a quick dummy book to check the sale rate for my upcoming stay, and it was much cheaper. I saved $197.21 by rebooking the reservation for the same room at the new sale price.
Original Booking
New Rate!
Finding a price drop for my travels happens more often than you would think. In this instance, I hadn’t seen any marketing about the Hilton 15% off sale. I was glad that while I was reviewing the reservation details, I noticed the sale in time to save a nice chunk of change.
Last year, I found a price drop on Delta award flights we had booked to Paris. We received 20,000 points back after having them repriced. For car rentals, I add a rate tracker from Autoslash to monitor my reservations and notify me of any price drops. It’s easy to use and has saved me a lot of money over the years.
Save yourself some money!
When you book travel a few months before a trip, watch for sales and check prices periodically. You could end up saving enough to splurge on a fancy dinner or a cool excursion you didn’t think was in the budget.
Dream, Plan, Save, Adventure!
The World According to Dev 