Hotel Tonight App Came Through for Me!

I had a late night flight from LA to San Francisco, but I was trying to get there earlier to have some time in the city.  I confessed to Points & Pixie Dust that I didn’t have a fully-formed hotel plan that night and was going to wing it based on when could get on a flight.

I had a reservation that I could cancel day of that I wasn’t happy with.  It was near $100 on cash & points and the reviews of the property were really low.  Kendra quickly directed me to her Hotel Tonight post.

As I was running around the airport, I checked out the options on Hotel Tonight.  Hotel Tonight lets you book discounted hotel rooms day of, starting 9am local time.

Hotel Tonight

I will let you know this upfront–don’t expect any miracles.  Don’t expect a rock-bottom-amazing-too-good-to-be-true-rate.

I was in LA, but poking around the other areas, I saw discounts of up to $100 off the room rates.  Given what I saw online when researching my hotels in LA, the room rate they display is the real room rate and not some fake rack rate far above what anyone would actually pay.

Looking through the LA options, I saw a $100 room at the Courtyard Marriott by the airport.  Only a few dollars more than my Cash & Points reservation elsewhere and with a higher rating (plus  no points needed!).

The other rooms I saw were about $40-$50 less than I’d been seeing.  The Courtyard Marriott was probably the lowest end hotel there.  So again, don’t expect miracles, but it did a good job of beating my current reservation.

Where I see this being really useful:

  • Wandering around from city-to-city
  • Last-minute flight change
  • Last-minute work trip
  • When you are not too happy with a refundable reservation

I don’t recommend using it as a means for a last-second deal regularly.  Meaning, I wouldn’t intentionally hold off to see what’s on the app.  Some of the options, while extremely nice and really nice deals, were in the $200 range.  If you are really adventurous and can stomach that much per night, then and only then would I recommend it as a regular tool for booking your hotels for a nice discount.

If you are interested, if you use my link, you can get a $25 credit off your first booking.  This code will also give me $25 if you book and this deal isn’t unique to me, so feel free to also post your invite codes in the comments below.

 

About Jeanne Marie Hoffman

Former bartender, still a geek. One equal part each cookies, liberty, football, music, travel, libations. Stir vigorously. +Jeanne Marie Hoffman Jeanne on Twitter

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8 comments

  1. Love HT

    Use promo code mchrist9 for $25 off.

    Thanks!!!

  2. My code is pdalton5, free money!

  3. Code FREECASH777 works for $25!

    Great post on using HT versus points, I had a similar situation this past Friday, although, I could not cancel a reservation I had and switch to the hotel I found on HT. Doh.

    • Jeanne Marie Hoffman

      Oh no, what hotel group was that? I was on Radisson points and you get until 4pm same day. I believe that Hyatt is the same way for most.

      • Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, was just a normal rate room booked via Barclay Arrival that I ended up using some Barclay miles on for the statement credit. Could have saved those miles and used HT credit to get a room at a hotel right next door to Tropicana for under $20!

        • Jeanne Marie Hoffman

          Oh, wow. I just checked out the Vegas rates, and that’s a really good deal. But sorry you couldn’t take advantage. Was it MGM?

          Totally separate note, what did you think of the new Tropicana? I last stayed there when it was shadier, and I can’t shake that image from my head whenever I go to Vegas.

  4. Mine is kwoo14

  5. Use promo code HT251 or H25OFF for $25 off your booking!

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