Everyone likes it when they save money, especially on travel. What if I told you that I’ve saved over €900 this year on Booking.com by using just a few small tips and tricks, and that they’re all 100% legit and you can do it too? Keep reading for my step by step guide on how you can save money on travel with Booking.com.
Before I start, there are two very important points that I feel I should mention. Firstly, I have travelled a lot this year and booked a lot of hotels, so my opportunities to save money on those bookings were admittedly higher than average. However, I did book mostly budget properties and was travelling solo, so my spend was a lot lower than most people might think.
I have also realised that I missed out on huge savings on flights this year by not following one of my own tips from a post a couple of years ago. And that’s why I decided to write this guide on how to save money on travel, so that we can all enjoy more savings in the future.
Step 1: Join Booking.com’s Genius loyalty programme
Booking.com has always been my preferred hotel booking site, and I’ve been a member of their Genius loyalty programme for a long time now. As soon as you create an account using your email and a password, you will immediately gain access to level one of the programme, as long as you are logged in. At level one, you will receive 10% discounts at selected properties.
Honestly, that’s not particularly exciting. I see level one as a stepping stone to the real rewards available at the higher levels. Level one is simply your time to build a booking history which the site will track, and every stay that you book is going to count towards your moving on to level two.
Step 2: Unlock Genius levels 2 and 3
In order to move on to level two, all you need to do is complete five stays in two years. So if you’re booking a family holiday, and a couple of nights or weekends away each year, you should be able to make it to level two without doing anything differently.
Once you make level two, this is where the real savings will start to mount up. You’ve now unlocked:
- 10% to 15% discount at participating properties
- Free breakfast at some hotels
- Free upgrades at some hotels
I saved €718.10 on my bookings this year as a Genius level two member, plus I also scored free breakfast at one particular hotel for a two week stay.
I recently unlocked level 3 rewards, although I haven’t booked anything yet to benefit from them, so my savings this year are purely based on my level 2 status. In order to reach level 3, you need to complete 15 stays in 2 years. Level 3 rewards are:
- 15% to 20% discount at participating properties
- Free breakfast at some hotels
- Free upgrades at some hotels
- Priority customer support on all bookings
How it works
The beauty of the programme is that once you have unlocked a level, there are no minimum booking requirements for keeping it. Those potential savings and rewards are yours forever, which means that nobody lost their membership perks during the Covid lockdowns when we couldn’t travel.
Loyalty is tracked on a per stay basis, so it doesn’t matter if you’re staying in hostels, B&Bs, budget hotels, privately hosted properties, or luxury villas.
Likewise, the total cost of the stay doesn’t matter, so whether you book a week at an all inclusive resort for the whole family, or you have a quick one night getaway in the next town up the road, it will count as one stay. For the most part, this is an advantage and makes it easier to progress to the higher levels.
Step 3: Book through the mobile app for cheaper rates
Comparing prices on the desktop website with those on the mobile app, I’ve noticed that some properties will offer a mobile-only price, giving you the opportunity to save money by booking at this lower rate. It’s not available for all hotels, but the ones who do offer it will have it clearly marked with a little green banner underneath the property information.
Step 4: Book early, but keep checking prices
Knowing when to book a hotel in order to get the lowest rate and best value for money is always difficult. Many properties raise their rates closer to the date as their supply of available rooms decreases. Others will offer last minute deals so that they don’t end up with lots of empty rooms.
In a case where you have a particular hotel that you want to stay at, you obviously don’t want to take the gamble of holding off in the hope that prices might drop, only to realise that you have waited too long and that your chosen property is no longer available for your dates.
Booking.com offers book now, pay later, and free cancellation options on many rooms and properties. I always like to book with a free cancellation anyway, in case my plans change. But the other advantage, and the one that has saved me a lot of money this year, is that I can continue checking the prices to see if they go down before my arrival date.
For example, on a recent booking for a 14 night stay in Ubud, the price dropped by almost 50% in the couple of weeks leading up to my check in date. By booking at the new, lower price, I saved €160, which I used to to pay for a 3 night stay in a private villa.
Always make sure to book at the new price before cancelling your original booking, and always double and triple check that you are still within the free cancellation period.
Step 5: Link your Booking.com profile with the Aer Lingus rewards programme
Once you have your Genius status up and running and are making savings on hotel bookings, it’s time to see where else you can save money or receive rewards using your Booking.com account. By accessing your account via the Aer Lingus AerClub rewards webpage, you can start to accumulate Avios points on your hotel bookings.
You’ll need to register for the rewards programme first, which you can do by clicking here. Whenever you are booking accommodation on Booking.com, make sure to log into your AerClub account first, and access Booking.com through their link.
By booking via AerClub, you will receive up to 8 Avios for every €1 you spend, which you can later use to book free flights or upgrades with Aer Lingus and their partner airlines, British Airways and United.
Make sure to also log in as a Booking.com member once you have been redirected, so that you will still receive any benefits or discounts related to your Genius status. One small catch here is that this needs to be done via the websites, and so you will not be able to take advantage of any mobile only rates.
Make sure to compare prices and decide whether it is worth paying the slightly higher rate for the hotel booking now in order to start building up those flight rewards for later.
And that’s how I missed out on big savings this year…
Because I was travelling so much this year and booking so many accommodations, I decided that I would rather miss out on the future flights rewards in order to make the extra savings now. I’ve recently done some calculations, and if I had paid the slightly higher room rates, I would have accumulated enough Avios points to fly return from Dublin to New York.
I’m feeling disappointed with myself for missing out on all of those flight rewards, so I need to keep reminding myself of the savings that I did make this year.
A quick reminder of my actual savings this year
Here’s a recap of what my savings were this year by using Booking.com and their Genius rewards programme:
- €718.10 in discounts on rooms
- €160 by booking free cancellations and continuing to check prices
- €56 (estimated) worth of free breakfasts on one booking
That’s a total of €934.10 saved through the Genius programme this year.
That’s how I saved money on travel with Booking.com in 2022.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you can use these tips to save money on travel in 2023.
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