You may think that business travel means travelling at a premium but there are ways you can save your money when booking a hotel room by using the right negotiation patter.

You need to keep at the forefront of your mind that every evening around a third of all hotel rooms across the UK are empty. You stand a very good chance of negotiating a better rate and you stand a better chance of getting a bargain by dealing with the hotel directly rather than trying to haggle with a reservation line. Its no good to be shy, you have to be hard faced and cheeky!

Never accept the first fee that is offered to you. There will be a variety of rates available in every hotel for the rooms and they will start by quoting their top rate. Questions to ask are: what is the corporate rate? Are there any promotions on? Then see if they can make you a better offer. If you can’t get them to budge and request a suite at a standard room rate or go for a room on a concierge floor.

Hotels operate with the philosophy that a room booked for a low rate is better than the room staying vacant and increasingly hotels are training their staff to make sure they don’t let the customer get away due to high rates. If you are struggling to strike a deal ask to speak to the manager. The manager may be more inclined to make an offer rather than let the room go empty.

Popularity: 21% [?]