Hotels:

When it comes to booking a place to stay, I always stay in hotels. I know that others have had success staying in Air BNB’s but I enjoy the consistency and expectations of staying in hotels.

Unlike flights, I try to be extremely brand loyal on hotels. In my experience, hotel rewards points accrue faster and there are more upgrade tiers as well. Personally, I prefer Marriott as my go-to hotel chain. I find the quality of their rooms to be consistent and they have multiple locations in every city where I have attended an event. By sticking with a single brand, I have been able to increase my rewards status, which helps me accrue more points. In addition, I have been able to earn enough points to cover a few weekends where the hotel has been absolutely free or greatly subsidized by rewards points. Unlike airlines, hotel rewards points are a strong currency and I even recommend considering the associated credit card for your hotel chain. This adds additional multipliers to your points when staying and can help you accrue points on your everyday purchases. When I travel, earning as many hotel points as possible becomes a very high priority.

Anyone who travels with me knows that one of my go-to strategies for reducing costs is staying 20-30 minutes away from the tournament location/convention center. Although it can be frustrating to hop in the car instead of walking to a tournament, these hotels can sometimes be a quarter of the price of a more centrally located hotel. My first strategy for finding these hotels is to check by an airport. These hotels are typically packed full of business travelers and can have very favorable rates on the weekends. Airport hotels frequently offer shuttles not only to and from the airport, but to other popular destinations as well. They may be able to get you close enough to the event where you would not have to necessarily drive and park a car. If I can’t find something by the airport, I start to look in the surrounding areas. I can typically find a hotel just outside the city limits where you only have a couple mile drive on an interstate to get to the event. Although it is not as ideal as being on top of the event, the cost savings can allow you to pay for a future hotel or two.

Another tip when booking a hotel is to look for any discounts the company may offer. For example, Marriott offers corporate discount codes, a senior discount, a government/military discount, and an AAA discount. Some of these discounts can knock 30-40% off the price of your nightly stay and if you qualify for any of them, you should absolutely take advantage.

My last strategy I use when booking hotels for events may actually be counterintuitive. Hotels frequently offer a cheaper price per night if you are willing to book a non-refundable rate. This seems like it may be a way to save money at first but I prefer to book only cancellable rates to maintain my flexibility. My reasoning for this is that I am apt to change my reservation a handful of times. When I travel for an event, I will typically take 5-10 minutes on a Monday and see if the hotel prices have lowered any, or if a better location has become available. Do not hesitate to look for improvements. You never know when a hotel chain may decide to have a sale, or if their reservation numbers prompt them to lower the rates. I am always looking for improvements to my reservation and have sometimes changed hotels two or three times the week before I am travelling.

Now that you have addressed transportation to the event and a hotel, the next part of the equation is getting around town while you are there.