Best time to book hotel?

[Little Evil]

I got my plane tickets all set for Nov 2013 and was wondering if I should ago ahead and book my room now on Agoda (will hit the banner link) or should I wait for potentially better prices?  I can talk all day and night about how to get the best airfare, but I admit knowing nothing about how hotel prices work. Will they get more expensive the closer I get to Nov? If it matters, I'm thinking about either Sea Me Spring Two, Page 10 or The Grand Hotel near Walking Street. 

[China Garden]

Booking early means your get a room where you want to stay rather then 2nd or 3rd choice, prices dont drop closer to your dates especially in high season.

[Little Evil]

Booking early means your get a room where you want to stay rather then 2nd or 3rd choice, prices dont drop closer to your dates especially in high season.

 

Makes sense.  I always forget Pattaya has hi/lo seasons. I'll go there pretty much any time outside of the worst monsoon months, so hi/lo always skips my mind. I was just wondering if there was a sweet spot to buy hotel tickets, like 60 days out or something, but I guess hotels are more seasonal driven than airline tickets.  

[stanger69]

Book early when you see what and where you want. The popular places seem to fill up quick.

 

Now, start that talking about how to get the best airfare!

[999Baht]

As already advised book early.

I've hesitate on this before and seen prices rise and rise and then nothing is available any more.

[Little Evil]

As already advised book early.

I've hesitate on this before and seen prices rise and rise and then nothing is available any more.

 

I've taken everyone's advice on this one and booked Page 10 already for Nov.  Thanks all for your input, as I would have probably waited a bit to see if prices changed, only to be disappointed when my selection of hotels would get booked with the start of high season.  

[Little Evil]

Now, start that talking about how to get the best airfare!

 

I'm always game to talk about airfare, but there are a few BM's who are sick of me and others talking about specific details regarding mile collection and award travel. There are a few extensive threads on that already, so I'm not going to beat a dead horse into the ground here.  If miles travel sounds intriguing, there's tons of info on the following threads:

 

http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/146718-business-class-from-usa/

 

http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/140240-us-airways-100-point-bonus-might-be-targeted/

 

If you are looking to flat out buy tickets using a travel booking website, I'd suggest clearing your browser cookies before running your search.  Websites are trying to remember repeat customers, and for whatever reason give first time customers the best deals.  If the website thinks you are a first time customer (hence clearing cookies), you will most likely get the best offering. Ran this test the just other day and saw price differences up to $350.  USA-BKK. I also think the consensus is currently that weekends are the best time to buy tickets through online travel companies. Prices vary daily, but the industry targets travelers on the weekends with the best deals, as that's when most people have time to search for vacations. Also, if time permits, mid-week departures and arrivals can often save you money, as seats are harder to fill.  Airlines will slash prices on mid-week travel to fill up the plane. If they only need 70% of the plane booked to break even (total guess), then they'll definitely cut prices if it means filling the profit seats during mid-week when fewer people are flying.  

 

There are myriad other tips and tricks out there for buying airline tickets, but I guess I'd need to know how you currently book in order to offer any more advice.  The only other suggestion that I have would be to thorough document any travel issues you might have and write a polite, but assertive email/letter to the airline complaint department, CC'ing the exec's if necessary.  Include not only the issue, but the flight numbers, times, and any other identifiers. Also put in a note about how often you travel (include your FF number, if you have one). Well written and thorough letters by valued customers are often awarded with vouchers for discounts.  I've received three discount vouchers for my last four trips (Jet Blue, Emirates, United).  The United one was a departure delay in the middle leg of my trip, which led to me missing the final leg flight and having to wait at the airport for 7 hours for a redeye flight.  I dealt with some rather surly United desk people.  I was already on award travel, but still managed to get a $300. voucher towards future airfare. Emirates gave me 5,000 miles for an issue regarding a tight connection and getting conflicting information from the pilot message, and two stewardess' that ended up getting me yelled at by one stewardess. Still make the connection and got the miles.  Jet Blue was the worst. Flight back from the DR. Was supposed to hit NYC then Boston (my destination). Weather in NYC was bad, so they landed in Boston. We proceeded to sit on the runway for nearly 3 hours, and at the end, they said the plan was to get back into the air and go to NYC. My friend literally shouted "Are you serious? I can see my house from here".  We sat on the tarmac for another 45 minutes, and they finally make the decision to let the Boston people deplane--so we sat on the tarmac for 3:45 for no reason.  

[sooty]

Personally i would have waited. November might technically be high season but air tickets are cheapest in this month and they are cheapest in this month because less people travel therefore very little chance of hotels filling up and getting more expensive. I would be absolutely amazed if what you paid today would not be a lot cheaper round september

[Little Evil]

Personally i would have waited. November might technically be high season but air tickets are cheapest in this month and they are cheapest in this month because less people travel therefore very little chance of hotels filling up and getting more expensive. I would be absolutely amazed if what you paid today would not be a lot cheaper round september

 

Hmmm........another take.  Too late now, but just out of curiosity, why do you think there is less travel in Nov?  I'll be kicking myself if you are right, as that was the reason why I posted this in the first place.  Although, how could it be high season if there are less travelers?

 

On the up shot, I won't have to live in anxiety for the next couple months wondering if the prices are going up or down, or if my hotels will get booked. Agoda did already have a "Limited availability left", or something to that effect on the Page 10 search for the dates I wanted. Maybe that's just a come-on to get people to book, but I like to think Agoda is above that.

[crossfield]

 

With Page 10 use the Page 10 site to book they don't take the deposit until a couple of days out...Agoda are full of crap I suspect but have never used them

[Little Evil]

With Page 10 use the Page 10 site to book they don't take the deposit until a couple of days out...Agoda are full of crap I suspect but have never used them

 

Agoda is pretty good, as far as I can tell.  Had good luck with them on searches in the past and they seem to have a large Pattaya hotel listing, even when compared to the bigger American travel websites like Orbitz or Hotels.com.

 

I did notice that rooms are already $4 USD/day cheaper from when I booked just two days ago. Not a big deal, but I hope I didn't buy too early.  

 

Edited to say that I don't have issue with paying upfront.  I kind of like getting it out of the way.

[stanger69]

I'm always game to talk about airfare, but there are a few BM's who are sick of me and others talking about specific details regarding mile collection and award travel. There are a few extensive threads on that already, so I'm not going to beat a dead horse into the ground here.  If miles travel sounds intriguing, there's tons of info on the following threads:

 

http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/146718-business-class-from-usa/

 

http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/140240-us-airways-100-point-bonus-might-be-targeted/

 

If you are looking to flat out buy tickets using a travel booking website, I'd suggest clearing your browser cookies before running your search.  Websites are trying to remember repeat customers, and for whatever reason give first time customers the best deals.  If the website thinks you are a first time customer (hence clearing cookies), you will most likely get the best offering. Ran this test the just other day and saw price differences up to $350.  USA-BKK. I also think the consensus is currently that weekends are the best time to buy tickets through online travel companies. Prices vary daily, but the industry targets travelers on the weekends with the best deals, as that's when most people have time to search for vacations. Also, if time permits, mid-week departures and arrivals can often save you money, as seats are harder to fill.  Airlines will slash prices on mid-week travel to fill up the plane. If they only need 70% of the plane booked to break even (total guess), then they'll definitely cut prices if it means filling the profit seats during mid-week when fewer people are flying.  

 

There are myriad other tips and tricks out there for buying airline tickets, but I guess I'd need to know how you currently book in order to offer any more advice.  The only other suggestion that I have would be to thorough document any travel issues you might have and write a polite, but assertive email/letter to the airline complaint department, CC'ing the exec's if necessary.  Include not only the issue, but the flight numbers, times, and any other identifiers. Also put in a note about how often you travel (include your FF number, if you have one). Well written and thorough letters by valued customers are often awarded with vouchers for discounts.  I've received three discount vouchers for my last four trips (Jet Blue, Emirates, United).  The United one was a departure delay in the middle leg of my trip, which led to me missing the final leg flight and having to wait at the airport for 7 hours for a redeye flight.  I dealt with some rather surly United desk people.  I was already on award travel, but still managed to get a $300. voucher towards future airfare. Emirates gave me 5,000 miles for an issue regarding a tight connection and getting conflicting information from the pilot message, and two stewardess' that ended up getting me yelled at by one stewardess. Still make the connection and got the miles.  Jet Blue was the worst. Flight back from the DR. Was supposed to hit NYC then Boston (my destination). Weather in NYC was bad, so they landed in Boston. We proceeded to sit on the runway for nearly 3 hours, and at the end, they said the plan was to get back into the air and go to NYC. My friend literally shouted "Are you serious? I can see my house from here".  We sat on the tarmac for another 45 minutes, and they finally make the decision to let the Boston people deplane--so we sat on the tarmac for 3:45 for no reason.

 

Insightful. Thanks.

I,ll keep in mind.

Looking for economy fare for end of Nov, YYZ to BKK. Usually fly thru Narita.

I always worry about booking either too soon or too late lol.

[Stillearly]

Agoda is pretty good, as far as I can tell.  Had good luck with them on searches in the past and they seem to have a large Pattaya hotel listing, even when compared to the bigger American travel websites like Orbitz or Hotels.com.

 

I did notice that rooms are already $4 USD/day cheaper from when I booked just two days ago. Not a big deal, but I hope I didn't buy too early.  

 

Edited to say that I don't have issue with paying upfront.  I kind of like getting it out of the way.

I like Booking.com , I booked my hotel for Nov about a month ago , then a couple of weeks later Expedia had the same rooms for 50% less , so used the free cancelation with Booking and rebooked with Expedia

 

Flight for November I booked about 2 months ago , it was the cheapest I had seen for a long time , just checked now and the same dates are now 15% more expensive

[zztop]

I booked air and hotel for Nov over 45 days ago and have not seen a drop in any rates.  For whatever that is worth.....