How to Find Cheap or Free Accommodation While Traveling?

Lodging is usually one of the most expensive parts of the trip often costing more than a plane ticket.

However there are many ways to significantly decrease the cost of accommodations and sometimes even get lodging for free.

We will look at the most common accommodation types and how you can get the most value from your money.

Let’s start with hotels and motels.

How to Stay for Cheap in Hotels and Motels? 10 Easy Ways.

Many people prefer and feel more comfortable staying in hotels instead of Airbnbs or hostels.

Hotels will usually be more expensive than the other options but there are a few ways to decrease the costs significantly. 

1. Go off-season or on a weekdays.

One of the first things that you can do to decrease the costs is to book your vacation during the off-season or shoulder season.

This will allow you to get cheaper flights and lodging.

If you are going for a short trip, try to go midweek. In some cases you might get rooms for up to 40% off.

2. Search for hotel prices in Google.

Start by searching for the hotel where you want to stay on Google.

Often this way you will be able get a slightly cheaper rate then going directly to hotel booking sites like Expedia or Agoda. 

Some hotel booking websites operate on the assumption that if you are using Google to search for hotels, you are looking for a bargain versus someone who goes directly to the website to book a room.

3. Book the rooms with flexible cancellation policy.

If possible, book a room that allows flexible cancellation. This way if the price drops or you get a discount code from somewhere you can rebook it again at a cheaper rate.

However, keep in mind that sometimes a non-refundable rate can be lower.

Use sites like Hotwire which sometimes allow you to book hotels at a much cheaper rate but the catch is that you will not see the name of the hotel until you pay. This works great for North America and Europe.

4. Use Agoda for the hotels in Southeast Asia.

For hotels in Southeast Asia (Philippines and Thailand) you will almost always get a cheaper rate at Agoda.

The cool thing about Agoda is that you will get AgodaCash that you can use to pay for your next trip. They also often have promotional codes that will save you another 5-10%. Try Agoda – Save Up to 75% on Hotels Worldwide

Sometimes paying for a hotel and flight as a bundle can save you money. So check this before booking everything separately.

This works great if you plan to stay in one place during your vacation.

5. Register at hotel booking websites to get access to members-only pricing.

Some websites like Expedia and Agoda have members-only pricing which can be quite lower than the regular rates so sign up to see if you can get cheaper pricing this way.

6. Take advantage of rewards points.

Use your credit card to earn points from your travel. Many hotels offer points for stays as well so if you stay in a similar family of hotels sign up for the membership. This way you can earn points from your credit card, hotel and a travel website itself.

 I used to have a gold level membership at Expedia when I traveled more in North America. To reach it you will need to book 15 nights per year which is basically two weeks of vacation. 

This allowed me to get free upgrades with their VIP hotels as well as gave me an option to request late checkout or early check-in. One hack to get more value from your Expedia points is to only redeem them in VIP hotels which give you twice the amount of dollars for your points.

7. Use coupons for booking your hotel rooms.

Many travel booking websites have an option to use coupons so check websites like RetailMeNot to see if there are any coupons that you can use for your booking. 

8. Split the cost of lodging with your friends.

When traveling with friends book a hotel with two rooms or if you feel comfortable one room with two beds.

Traveling with a bigger group? It might be cheaper to book the entire place on Airbnb. 

If you are staying for a longer period of time look for a weekly or monthly rate or even rent an apartment instead.

9. Use the price matching programs.

Many booking websites have a price matching program which might be useful if you find a cheaper hotel rate on one website but you want to book through another to get more points 

10. Check out Groupon deals.

Check Groupon for deals. I use Groupon mainly for going to restaurants and doing activities for up to 70% off the regular price.

However, sometimes there are great deals for hotels as well depending on the region where you are going so give it a try.

Staying in Hostels to Save Money While Travelling

If you are traveling alone, it might be cheaper to stay in a hostel instead of a hotel. Hostels are also better for meeting new people.

Staying at a hostel for the first time might be intimidating but after you spend a few nights there you will get used to it.

On some occasions, the hostel owner might even allow you to stay for free and provide food if you can do some work for them for a couple of hours per day.

Staying in Airbnb Instead of Hotel 

Airbnb is another great alternative to hotels, motels, and hostels. If you are not familiar with it, it is basically renting a place for a night or longer from the owner of the house. 

In many cases, the owner might rent one room in his or her place or even an entire house.

Airbnb website is handling all the transactions and provides support and insurance for homeowners and travelers. Airbnb is usually cheaper and often has more unique places to stay in. It also gives you an opportunity to connect with locals.

 If it is your first time using Airbnb, you can use this – $45 coupon for your first transaction

I used Airbnb more than a dozen times and never had any issues.

However, there are a few tips to make your trip more enjoyable.

First of all, read the reviews and if possible book a place with more than 10-20 reviews.

I also found it more convenient to stay at Airbnbs that provide self-check-in with an electronic pad. 

Airbnb is the best for expensive cities if you want to stay close to downtown.

I used it in Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria.

Many times Airbnb will be almost twice cheaper than hotels and provide the same or even better rooms and amenities.

There are a few other websites that operate in a similar manner to Airbnb such as HomeAway that you can also look into.

How to Save Even More When Traveling by Camping 

If your goal is to enjoy nature, it is often cheaper to just camp and stay in a tent.

I had a lot of fun camping in busy places like like Banff, Lake Louise or Yellowstone.

In all of these places, hotels will easily run you $200-$300 per night while camping can be found for $30-$35 per night with flush toilets and hot showers.

If you really want to cut the costs, you can camp for free by staying on a public land. 

When I first started camping, I was a little skeptical and wasn’t sure if I would get a good sleep in a tent but surprisingly on more than one occasion, I was able to get better sleep in a tent than in some hotels. 

Nothing beats that fresh air.

Some people are concerned about wildlife while camping but I never had any issues.

This especially true if you mostly do front country camping where there are another 100-200 people staying with you on the same campground.

However, remember to bring the bear spray. 

Stay for Free with Couchsurfing 

The Couchsurfing is similar to Airbnb with the main difference is that you don’t have to pay for your stay.

There are a few other websites similar to Couchsurfing but most of them are not as big and active.

Couchsurfing has a verification program in place and also allows users to rate their experiences to enhance safety.

By staying with a high rated verified hosts you shouldn’t have any issues with couchsurfing every once in a while.

Take Advantage of House Swapping

As the name suggests, you are basically allowing someone to stay in your house in exchange for them allowing you to stay in their place.

I never tried this method but it sounds like a great way to get lodging for free if you have a house that you can offer to other travelers.

Homeexchange.com is one of the websites where you can find people interested in house swapping.

Leverage Your Social Media Accounts and a Blog to Get Free Accommodation

If you have a large following on Instagram or a popular blog it might be pretty easy to get free nights by offering hotels free exposure on your social media or a review on your blog.

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