This Old-School Trick Is One of the Most Tried-and-True Ways to Snag a Last-Minute Hotel Deal

You’ve been angling for a Memorial Day weekend getaway ever since, well, February. But prices were sky-high and you said, “No, thanks.” 

Well, we’ve got a sneaky trick that’s a bit of a throwback, too: Wait until the week before your long weekend of choice, then pick up the phone and ask the front desk about locking down a last-minute (i.e., heavily discounted) rate.

Here’s why this works: A hotel’s number one priority is a full house, but since cancellation policies typically allow you to back out—free of charge—up to 24 hours in advance, there’s a high probability that someone will bail on a reservation, leaving the hotel with a room to fill.

And since a vacancy is the last thing a hotel wants on a primo holiday weekend, a lot of times they’ll offer a down-to-the-wire discount...sometimes as much as 50 percent off. 

Of course, it all depends on how “in demand” your hotel of choice happens to be. But bottom line: It’s worth a call.