Thrifty Traveler recently reported on an awesome development that has the potential to add up to significant savings: Google Hotels now offers price tracking at the hotel level, meaning that you can now track the price of an individual hotel. This has the potential to save you a ton of money by alerting you via email when the price of a hotel changes, indicating that it is time to rebook a reservation. That can obviously save you money on cash bookings, but it could also help identify when award prices have changed for hotels that use dynamic pricing models.
I am not positive whether this feature has been enabled for all hotels listed on Google Hotels, but I see the button to track prices at the bottom of each property I’ve checked thus far. I wondered whether some types of accommodation might be excluded, but I found the ability to track even on a dorm bed in a $12/night hostel in Quito, Ecuador.
This is incredibly useful from several angles.
For those who typically book flexible rates, the ability to track and receive an email when the price changes could present the opportunity for massive savings. I rarely ever book an advance purchase rate, since I prefer to have the flexibility to change plans, and I often like to lock up a hotel even before my trip details are totally confirmed. I also like the opportunity to rebook if prices drop, though I have mostly relied on manual searches to notice those situations. Receiving an email alert that the price has changed could save me a ton of money in those situations and reduce my need to compulsively search for opportunities to rebook!
Similarly, if you are primarily an award traveler, this feature could potentially save you some points. With programs like Marriott, Hilton, and IHG having moved to dynamic award pricing, we often see changes in award prices that track along with cash price changes. In other words, when the cash price drops, so, too, does the award price in many cases. Having an alert set up for the cash rates could indicate when you should check to see if re-booking might save you some points.
I only started using Google Flights to track cash prices within the last 6 months, and I have saved on flights numerous times already (including a flight next month that I cancelled and rebooked this morning for about 42% less than what I paid just a couple of weeks ago).
In order to track a hotel, you’ll need to search for hotels in/near a city or place of interest, then click on an individual hotel to see the full price breakdown across multiple sites. The button to track is at the bottom of the list of booking sites, as shown above. You’ll need to make sure to scroll down to find it.
Keep in mind that it is possible that some price change alerts may end up being for bookings through certain third-party platforms, some of which may be less well-established. However, my hope is that most price alerts I receive reflect a change in price that I’ll find across multiple sites.
Keep in mind that this feature could also identify opportunities to file Best Price Guarantee claims. Rules for filing a claim vary by booking channel, so see our Best Rate Guarantee Complete Guide for more details.
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this is huge. great to have positive news in this space occasionally amidst all the devaluations
Looks like it’s only on pc, not mobile device.
Cf. Gondola? Hotelslash?
I know Autopilot recently added a lowest-rate guarantee service for flexible hotels. I’ve been meaning to add a Marriott reservation. My understanding is that they’ll claim the price drop for you for a 25% fee, but the savings come as a lower rate owed at check-in rather than airline credit, which I’d happily pay 25% for.