There are plenty of deals for last minute travelers, but it pays to know where to look. To find the best deal, it's best to consult multiple sources so you have prices to compare. Generally, the best deals on hotel rooms are found well in advance, but this doesn't mean that cheap last minute deals are impossible to find.
Visit Hotwire.com to bid on cheap rooms. Hotwire.com offers deals on last minute accommodation. The site allows prospective guests to bid on hotel rooms, which can give you a discount of up to 25 percent off published prices. The catch is that the name and address of the hotel is hidden until your bid has been accepted by the hotel. Before you bid, you are shown an approximate location of the hotel. Hotwire will inform you if it seems that your bid is too low and will potentially be rejected by the hotel.
Search the major travel search engines, such as Orbitz.com, Travelocity.com, and Priceline.com. Even at the last minute, cheap deals can be found on these websites. Kellkoo.com and Kayak.com are both hotel aggregator sites, which sometimes catch smaller, independently owned hotels that slip by sites like Orbitz and Priceline.
Check Travellerspoint.com regularly. Travellerspoint.com updates a daily list of last minute hotels in the United States. The database lists each state and only shows deals for hotels that are to be booked within the next 20 days.
Bid on a hotel. It may be a risk, but if you have a gambling spirit try, Skyauction.com to competitively bid on last minute hotel rooms, flights and package holidays. Be sure to read all of the fine-print when booking though. Often there are hidden costs buried in the language of the auction.
Call up a hotel on the day you would like to stay and try to negotiate a cheaper room deal. Some hotels may be willing to negotiate if they have a vacancy.
