NEXT time you are booking a holiday, you should pick up the phone instead of heading to your laptop.
Hotels can give you extra discounts if you call them directly – with some deals ones they can't offer online.
Some of the larger, more lavish hotel chains are unlikely to be able to advertise cheap deals online to avoid damaging their image of a luxury resort.
However, calling them up may see you getting a bigger bargain than usual as they look to fill rooms following lockdown.
Jane Pendlebury, CEO of The Hospitality Professionals Association (HOSPA), spoke to Sun Online Travel about how to find a bargain or get a free upgrade when wanting to book a hotel stay.
She explained: "Families should look where they want to go and just call the hotel – they may have great offers which they can't make public but can offer you."
"You won't find many big names putting deals out there in the public space as they don't want to damage their brand or get their rates back to normal, but if you call them you can always get something even better."
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TV travel expert Peter Greenberg agreed, telling Forbes: "Only 52 per cent of all the available inventory is online – it is only there as the travel providers want to make it available.
"Pick up the phone, have that conversation […] what you’re seeing your screen is not what they’re seeing on their screen."
A Which? study in 2020 found that eight out of 10 rooms were cheaper if you went straight to the hotel website.
When getting in touch with hotels directly to book a room, some even offered free upgrades or breakfast as an inventive, as well as discounts on spa treatments.
That’s because they have to pay between ten and 30 per cent commission to booking sites for every reservation that comes through them – a big chunk of their income.
However, if you book with the hotel direct, all of the payment goes to them.
This means they are far more likely to be generous with upgrades, WiFi and all of the other add-ons.
A former hotel secret shopper has revealed the three tricks he used to get a free upgrade at a hotel.
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