Hotels prefer to be at certain occupancy levels at different times...6 months, 3 months prior, etc. You may be able to get as good or even a better deal 6-7 months before your dates as opposed to last minute. There are any number of places to see what actual deals were optained by bidders, so you should be able to have an idea of realistic expectation of a successful bid. I have found that car rentals do tend to be cheaper at the last minute.