If you are planning a trip for a larger group or an extended period of time, it might be the most cost-effective to rent a house from sites like HomeAway, Airbnb, or VRBO. Just check out the ratings before you book. These services have taxes and cleaning fees, so keep that in mind when looking at the initial price, but hotels tend to have these fees as well. A huge benefit with this route is the kitchen, allowing you to save on restaurants by cooking your own meals.

Sometimes if you book your entire trip on one site, you can save hundreds. Hotels and airlines partner with sites like Expedia to offer flight + hotel + car bundles or flight + hotel bundles for certain locations. Price the flight and hotel separately using other sources to ensure that you're actually saving money, but it's a great resource to keep in mind.

This trick isn't for everyone, but if you choose to travel without a reservation, there are savings to score. Don't rely on this tactic during a peak travel time, such as New York City over Thanksgiving weekend. However, if you arrive early in the day when hotels have plenty of rooms available, you can usually get a same-day discount and check out the room in person before you commit to the stay. There are a few apps that will assist with short-notice bookings if you don't want to do all of the legwork.

It is vital to look at the fine print when booking on deal sites like Trivago or Booking.com. These sites are great for finding and comparing hotels, but there are some downsides. For example, there can be additional resort fees that the deal site doesn't cover and will be charged to you directly by the hotel at checkout. Also, some smaller hotels don't want to pay site commissions and therefore won't be listed.

Before you reserve a room online, it can be beneficial to contact the hotel during regular business hours to see if they will match or beat the rates you've found online. Booking over the phone can add flexibility because you don't need to pay in advance and you're dealing directly with the hotel instead of a third party; sometimes you can get some added perks, like free breakfast or a late check-out. Just make sure you call the hotel directly, not the 1-800 reservation number.

There are many online sites that scrape the web for coupon codes for specific brands, including hotel brands. Taking five minutes to look for a coupon code before booking a hotel stay is a quick and easy way to save money. If you're on a road trip, stop at convenience stores and rest stops to nab local coupons that often beat the national codes.

If you know which hotel(s) you want to stay at, set up an alert for price changes on sites like Kayak, a great way to find the lowest hotel price with pretty minimal effort.