charlieduke

I am travelling from Uk to San Francisco on 2nd August with wife and two teenage children. We will be driving around California and eventually flying back from Las Vegas on 21st August. I have booked the flights but have not yet got round to booking hotels. I imagine that we will be staying at hotels for around three to four days at a time although I haven't ruled out maybe staying at a villa for a week. I am after some advice from either travellers who have done this in the past or US citizens as to when is the best time to book hotels ie do the prices get lower that what they are now and is there a hotel loyalty programme that I should join to get best value. I already have a Holiday Inn membership and will purchase the Milepoint offer for $49 to get Hilton Gold membership. Are UK websites the cheapest when booking hotels in the US or are there some better US sites. I know I have time on my side but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

SeamasterLux

I'll be travelling in the same region as you at the same time. From what I could say, many hotels haven't released availability for that period yet so many prices that you'll see can be be higher than what you'll get in 2/3 months once they display the best available rates and not the rack rates.

charlieduke

thanks.i will hold back then. every hotel I have looked at is showing prices for August.

caGALINDO

lmtclub consistently has lower prices than what kayak, expedia, etc find.

you can also try biddingfortravel (priceline name your own price)

you should book rates with free cancellation and cancel if you find better rate

mudd_stuffin

Have you read the sticky?

Doc Savage

OP, your questions are so nonspecific as to be nearly useless right now. Once you get your itinerary narrowed down a bit, we can offer a bit more info.

I suggest you look at the California forum where a lot of other people have asked similar questions.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/california-450/

darthbimmer

Sometimes the best deals can be booked months in advance; other times the best deals appear at the last minute. What I would do in a situation like this is book a refundable rate now via each hotel's website. That guarantees you have a place to stay and lets you plan your budget. Then, check back every month or so to see if a better rate is available. A few days to a week before your stay try the bidding sites like Priceline as hotels often dump excess inventory at the last minute.

Also, I recommend you check in the forums for the states and cities you're visiting for tips on where (what part of the city/area) to stay and how much is reasonable to pay.

Thunderroad

Very good advice. Most hotel bookings can be canceled up until a day or two in advance...sometimes even on the same day. Just make sure that is the case with whatever you want to book. In addition, you may actually get the best rates booking far in advance or find that rooms at popular hotels or that nice rental houses get booked up months in advance, particularly during the summer.

One more piece of advice: Bring fairly warm clothes if you'll be spending any time in SF or parts of the northern California coast in August. We sometimes get beautiful weather that time of year, but it also can be completely fogged in for much or all of the day, with temperatures as low as 10 degrees celsius. (Lots of micro-climates here, particularly during the summer...it can be foggy in SF but hot and sunny just a few miles inland to the east.) Las Vegas, in contrast, will be broiling.

These weather warnings aside, California is great and I'm sure you'll have a wonderful trip.

charlieduke

thank you all for your advice. much appreciated.