We’re back from our one-month long adventure of Australia!
We always thought that Switzerland is the most beautiful country in the world.

 

But I’m happy that we’re wronged. That’s the point of traveling, right?

We’re truly humbled by the beauty and vastness of Australia. 

 

The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself.

 

For every country, every city, and every place has its own unique beauty, you just need to open your eyes and embrace the moment.

 

For this past 30-day, I’ve gained many first time experiences, from spotting whales from the shore, catching dozens of rainbows stretches over the sea, see the iconic 12 Apostles, and drive along the Great Ocean Road and more!

 

But wait…

If you’ve been following us for some time, you might be surprised on this topic. I used to talk about self-publishing(this is how we achieve financial freedom), social media marketing, blogging, and entrepreneurship but not a single post about traveling.

 

But you know what?

 

I just can’t resist myself from sharing my little-known secret of how you can travel the world without breaking the bank too!

 

Every time coming back from our adventure, we’re inundated with questions about our trip from our family, friends and relatives.

 

The most commonly asked question: “How much do you spend for one month traveling?”

 

It’s natural that people like to associate experience with cash value. Many think that extended overseas travel is the exclusive realm of the idle rich, students, and counterculture dropouts.

 

But it really shouldn’t be that case.

 

I really think that if you can, you should take a month off, go somewhere that you’ve never been before, once a year! Travel and immerse yourself in different cultures is in this 100 rules for being a maverick in life and business.

 

Oftentimes, finances aren’t the primary constraint holding us back.

 

And I guess you’re familiar with this saying, “You don’t have to be rich to travel well”.

 

But, how?

 

How can I travel well on a budget?

 

When it comes to traveling, the two biggest travel expenses are going to be your airfare and your hotel.

 

So, today I’m going to show you how I find the best cheap hotel rooms every time.

 

I bet you can find better deal than me!

 

*This is exact same method I used to book hotel rooms in places around Australia (Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns, Port Douglas, Melbourne etc) for less than $850 a month! And 2-week hotel rooms in Japan for $400. And 4-week hotel rooms in Europe for $1200.

 

 

 

 

 

Without further ado, let’s dive in.

How to get the best deal on a hotel room

 

1. Do a search on Tripadvisor

There are a few good online comparison search sites for hotels and flights. But I’ve always had the best luck with Tripadvisor or HotelsCombined(for my hotel booking) and Skyscanner (for my flight).

 

Tripadvisor is one of the largest travel websites in the world, is widely used by travelers in search of help, opinion and inspiration.

 

The website compares prices from over 200 booking sites, together with reviews, rankings, and ratings, it makes finding the best hotel deals that fits your budget so much easier.

 

No doubt, it’s my No.1 recommended site to find the lowest price on the right hotel.

• Go to Tripadvisor
• On Tripadvisor main page, select “Hotels” on the top menu bar.
• Next, enter your destination (or of your hotel name if you have a specific one in mind), dates of travel, number of guests
• Click “Find Hotels”

 

 

2. Find the best hotel deals

In this example, I’m searching for hotels in Melbourne, for 2 adults.

This is how the search result should look like:

What I’m looking for is a hotel with good service, clean room, in a safe neighborhood and not too far from the city or train station, at the lowest possible price.

 

This is how I find the best hotel at the lowest price possible using Tripadvisor:

• On the search result page, select “Travelled Ranked” on the “Sort by” bar
• Skip the first hotel in the list, Tripadvisor always shows sponsored hotel in the first place in the search result.
• Skimp through the list of hotels to have an idea of the average price of hotels in that location.
• Choose first 3 hotels that show the lowest price in the search.
• Click into the hotel’s page, check out the hotel location, reviews and ratings.
• Select the hotel that you’re most satisfied with

 

Usually, I will sort the search result first by ranking and then by price. The easiest and fastest way to find cheap and nice hotel is to pick the cheapest hotel from among the top-rated hotels. Look at the review, it’s a great indicator and always go for hotel with at least 4 stars.

 

So by now, you should know which hotel that you want to book for your stay.

 

3. Choose the cheapest booking site

Next, you’ll want to book a room with the hotel you’ve selected in step#3.

 

Tripadvisor, a price comparison website will show you which booking site you should use in order to get the best deal for this particular hotel.

 

As an example, we can see that Expedia offers the best deal for this hotel at $42, compared to other sites like Agoda, Booking.com , hotels.com etc.

Next, choose Expedia and click “View Deal”.

There you go. Now you can proceed to book your hotel, knowing you’ve scored the best deal for the hotel that you want.

 

8 Useful Tips That Will Help You Find Cheap Hotel Rooms Every Time 

 

1. Browse in Private

Always use incognito mode whenever you want to book for a hotel or a flight.

 

If you keep searching for a specific hotel, prices go up! The same goes for flight booking websites.

 

Most of the booking websites use cookies in your browser to remember your activities. You will see the prices go up and up. This will create the sense of urgency so that you book NOW.

 

To avoid being fooled by the sites, make sure you’re using private browsing mode to get the cheapest prices for both hotels and flights.

To open an incognito window, start Chrome, click “three dots” or wrench icon in the top right corner of your screen.

 

Click “New Incognito Window” and start browsing.

 

2. Use coupon or voucher code

Search for any voucher, coupon or promotional code before you make the payment.

For example, for my recent trip to Australia, simply by using this HSBC voucher code on Expedia, it saved me more than $70 in total for my hotel booking instantly! Plus, I still get to earn the reward points for all my bookings, which I will talk next in tip#3.

 

3. Join loyalty program

If you travel a lot, it’s definitely worth to sign up to hotel booking sites like Expedia and Agoda.

 

You can earn points on all your bookings with Expedia. Once you’ve accumulated enough reward points, you can redeem it and save you money on your next trip.

 

Just like Expedia, Agoda also lets you earn gift cards, which can be used on your next booking.

Furthermore, Agoda will send you a coupon code every month which can save you up to $50 on your hotel booking.

 

4. Earn cash back on your stay

Website like Shopback allows you to earn cash back for every purchase made through their website.

 

In order to earn cash back for every dollar you spend, first you’ll need to sign up for a free account, buy an item (book your hotel in this case) from one of the partner retailers to receive money back on your order.

 

Shopback works with big companies like Expedia, Agoda, Airasia. So instead of booking directly with the hotel sites, why not make your bookings through Shopback?

 

5. Be the early bird

Always book in advance to get the best hotel deal.

 

Prices tend to rise when you get closer to your travel date. If you want to get the best deal it’s better to get in there early.

 

So what is the perfect time to book a hotel room?

 

According to Denise Bartlett at Trivago.com, based on a research done by her company, book your hotel rooms one month in advance is the best time.

 

 

6. Be Flexible

If you’re flexible in your travel dates, you’ll have a higher chance of getting a cheap hotel.

 

Travel during low season will mean cheaper hotels, cheaper flights and lesser crowds too.

 

 

7. Stay midweek

Most hotels will offer a discounted rate from Sunday to Thursday. So if possible try to plan your stay during the midweek.

 

Usually, Sunday nights are the cheapest night of the week to stay in a city hotel.

 

If you want to get the best hotel deal, I would say avoid staying hotels on Friday and Saturday nights.

 

8. Compare hotel prices

Use hotel booking site like HotelsCombined to compare rates.

 

 

Airbnb vs Hotel

We love using Airbnb too. If you’re traveling with more than 2 people, Airbnb would be a better option. It’s much cheaper than booking a hotel.

 

However, if you’re traveling as a couple (just like us) or with your bestie who can share a hotel room with you, surprisingly staying in a hotel comes out cheaper than using Airbnb!

 

For our past few recent trips to Australia and Japan, we have no luck in finding cheaper deal using Airbnb. Instead, I managed to get nice hotel rooms at a much cheaper rate than Airbnb by using the method above!

 

Still, before finding the best hotel using Tripadvisor, I will do a quick search on Airbnb and compare the price.

 

If you’re new to Airbnb, sign up for a free $40 credit which you can use for your first booking!

Conclusion

Staying at a good hotel doesn’t have to break the bank. If you follow the tips and tricks above, you’ll get a great hotel room and avoid being the person who paid the most for a hotel stay!

 

Now you know how to find cheap hotel rooms! Anymore excuse not to start traveling?

Do you have any traveling tips to share with us?

 

P.S: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.