Best Time To Book On-Sight Hotel Stay

[zebsterama]

Hi everyone,

Our family of 4, myself, DW, DS 12 years old, and DD 10 years old, have booked our flight (via points - hence the early booking) for a stay in Orlando between July 22 and July 30 2014.

This is our first trip to Universal and we definitely plan to stay on-sight. Based on what I've read, our preference is likely Portofino (like the Italian vibe) or Royal Pacific -- not completely against Hard Rock by any stretch, but that's the preliminary result.

We will very likely stay in the least expensive studio - not really concerned about the size of the room, or view (to be quite honest). Not overly interested in Club - rather take the $100+ a night premium and spend it towards a table service meal at the hotel or parks/citywalk.

OK - enough background - here's the crux of the question.

I'm trying to get the best deal at one of the on-sight hotels during this specific time period; we're pretty much locked in with our flight. I'm also a CAA (AAA equivalent) member. I have also signed up on the Lowes site & Universal site - praying for but not counting on a PIN code

1. Any idea's on best strategy to get the best deal? Do we wait closer to our date? Do I book now? What do you think? & How should we execute?

2. IF it makes sense to wait it out for some reason --- how likely is it (I know that there are no guarantees in life) that at least one of the hotels will have availability for a studio (least expensive / garden view) for the dates that we're going?

Thanks very much for your help with this.

Cheers,
Zebsterama

 

[bumbershoot]

I use this site for booking: http://www.loewshotels.com/en/booking/uo?hotel=UEPBH,UEHRH,UERPR


I book as soon as I see a rate I can deal with. If I don't like the rate then I wouldn't be staying there.

As time goes on, keep checking. See if the rates come down. If they do, call and have them switch it for you.

They tend to offer a rate for Annual Passholders. That rate is sometimes good enough that it makes up (financially) for one person in the party to upgrade a ticket to an Annual Pass. You check for that by using the code APH in the code field on the website above. If one of those rates shows up at some point for your rates and you book it, you just need to have the AP for the trip. I got an AP online for pickup at the kiosks, and they let me know at checkin when I needed to show them the actual AP by. Easy.


In short, since you're going and you want to stay there, book the room-only now, and if better rates show up later you can change it.

 

[RMulieri]

Keep in mind that the Harry Potter expansion opens next summer..incredible Discounts may be scarce.

 

[zebsterama]

I use this site for booking: http://www.loewshotels.com/en/booking/uo?hotel=UEPBH,UEHRH,UERPR


I book as soon as I see a rate I can deal with. If I don't like the rate then I wouldn't be staying there.

As time goes on, keep checking. See if the rates come down. If they do, call and have them switch it for you.

They tend to offer a rate for Annual Passholders. That rate is sometimes good enough that it makes up (financially) for one person in the party to upgrade a ticket to an Annual Pass. You check for that by using the code APH in the code field on the website above. If one of those rates shows up at some point for your rates and you book it, you just need to have the AP for the trip. I got an AP online for pickup at the kiosks, and they let me know at checkin when I needed to show them the actual AP by. Easy.


In short, since you're going and you want to stay there, book the room-only now, and if better rates show up later you can change it.

I'm good with the rate, just trying to see if there's a favorable way to possibly get a better rate. Thanks for your help!

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

I am curious about this question as well. We will be going May 31st - June 1st 2014. We plan on staying at RPR. Right now I have it booked through Travelocity for $544 for two nights. Is it possible to get it cheaper than that? Thanks for your help!

 

[damo]

I am curious about this question as well. We will be going May 31st - June 1st 2014. We plan on staying at RPR. Right now I have it booked through Travelocity for $544 for two nights. Is it possible to get it cheaper than that? Thanks for your help!

Does that include taxes and fees? It's really hard to tell right now what the prices will be like. It probably depends on how far along the new Diagon Alley is.

Remember that AAA will get you 10% off of rack rates, so take that into consideration when looking at online prices. I'm sure they'll be fluctuating.

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

Does that include taxes and fees? It's really hard to tell right now what the prices will be like. It probably depends on how far along the new Diagon Alley is. Remember that AAA will get you 10% off of rack rates, so take that into consideration when looking at online prices. I'm sure they'll be fluctuating.

Yes this is with taxes and fees. Travelocity had a 10% discount off what I assume were rack rates.

 

[damo]

Yes this is with taxes and fees. Travelocity had a 10% discount off what I assume were rack rates.

It could be a good rate or it could be high. If I were you, I'd just keep watching rates every month or so. Just for an idea of how low rates can go, my kids have reservations starting this Saturday at $134/night at the RPR with a PIN code.

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

It could be a good rate or it could be high. If I were you, I'd just keep watching rates every month or so. Just for an idea of how low rates can go, my kids have reservations starting this Saturday at $134/night at the RPR with a PIN code.

Wow! That is a lot cheaper than what we got! Thanks for this info. That will help me know what may or may not be a good deal!

 

[damo]

Check out this thread to get an idea of how rates fluctuate.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3002437

 

[kohlby]

I'd book ASAP, but just make sure it can be changed without penalty. We booked once online and then the rate dropped drastically online - so we called them up and they did give us the lower rate. Make sure you have them send you a confirmation email and print it out however, as when we arrived, the desk people didn't have it down and were surprised we had found a rate that low. Within a couple days of booking it, it was back up. More recently, this year, we booked after watching for a while and didn't expect it to go any lower. We had found a promo for 20%. But then we were mailed a PIN code for 40% off. We called and they honored that, saving us a lot of money. (For the PIN code we had, you had to call - you couldn't do it online).

I can't remember how low our rates are for when we're going in Nov, but I want to say it's close to that $134 for the non-weekend nights, also at RPR. I notice that you're going in July. I would expect rates to be higher then, as it's peak season. That doesn't mean you can't find discounts, just that I wouldn't have $134 as the magic number.