Best Hotel Booking Sites To Find The Cheapest Rates (2024)

Priceline

Website type: OTA

Priceline is our “Goldilocks” pick for an OTA, providing an even all-around booking experience. Its rates are on the cheaper side, but not the cheapest. There are plenty of results in each city—not the most, but certainly not the least. It also includes a palatable number of results on each page—again, right in the middle.

What sets Priceline apart is the VIP rewards program, which promises savings of up to 10% just for joining and discounts up to 50% once you hit Platinum status. There are no room upgrades or perks, but the discount could make up for it, depending which hotel and room type you choose. You can also earn extra rewards with the Priceline VIP Rewards™ Visa® Card*.

Pros

Lots of search results
Loyalty program and rewards
Plenty of exclusive deals and discounts

Cons

Doesn’t display final price until the last booking page
Rewards program doesn’t include elite perks
Prices are not always the cheapest

Google Hotels

Website type: Aggregator

We found Google Hotels has the cheapest average prices, an impressive number of search results and lots of filters to help find your ideal hotel stay. But there are a few things to watch for.

First, some of the cheap prices displayed are deceptive: When you click through, the final price ends up being much higher or you have to provide personal information (like your phone number) to see the price.

Second, the big number of search results doesn’t always mean quality. There are plenty of sketchy websites without a track record peppered throughout. Beware, especially if the rate seems too good to be true.

With that in mind, Google Hotels also gives lots of reputable search results. It’s a broad starting point and will give you ideas, no matter where you want to travel. There’s no loyalty program with Google Hotels. If you’re not concerned about that, though, there are deals to be found on this powerful travel aggregator. Plus, you can earn rewards by paying for your stay with one of the best travel credit cards.

Pros

Cheapest prices around—sometimes better than booking directly
Lots of search results to consider
Fast, powerful filters

Cons

No rewards program
Some cheap rates end up being higher when you click through
A few sketchy results here and there

Booking.com

Website type: OTA

If you’re not loyal to a particular hotel chain, you can still get benefits like room upgrades and free breakfast by focusing your bookings, like the name suggests, at Booking.com.

Just for joining the Genius loyalty program, you start with 10% off your booking. That goes up to 20% off the more trips you book, along with the aforementioned perks. That discount could add up to significant savings. Plus, Booking.com has a decent amount of search results to choose from.

Pros

Loyalty program and rewards
An approachable number of search results
Plenty of time-saving filters
Mid-range prices with an easy discount for joining the loyalty program

Cons

Doesn’t display final price until the end of booking
Not always the best price

Kayak

Website type: Aggregator

Kayak had nearly 14,000 search results on average—the most we found—which is a dizzying number of options. That makes it an excellent site to research room rates anywhere you want to go. Kayak is also known for its assortment of filters, helping you narrow your search as specific as you want.

But within all those options, it’s easy to get lost—and there’s a lot of room for error with lesser-known websites. Other than the number of results, prices tend to be toward the cheaper side, and the site tells you when a lower price might be hiding behind a login or membership.

One final note: Kayak has the option to display the total price with taxes and fees included, but it’s hiding in the filters. Even if you use it, take the prices with a grain of salt, since it doesn’t include members-only rates.

Pros

The most hotel search results on average
Not the cheapest, but not the most expensive either
Tons of filters and ways to search

Cons

Will show the final price, but you have to select it
Doesn’t always recommend the cheapest options on the first page of results
No rewards program, but has a filter for exclusive deals

Trivago

Website type: Aggregator/OTA

Trivago is all about focus. It has the lowest number of results at barely 700 on average, but is the second-cheapest hotel booking site overall. That means you’re not inundated with results and can cut right to the chase. Trivago also shows 35 results per page, which makes it easy to scan the results.

Trivago is unique in that it’s an aggregator and an OTA. While the curated results are nice, unfortunately there’s no rewards program. That said, it works well—but keep in mind that the price you see will likely be higher when you click through, because taxes and fees are not included in the display price.

Pros

Among the cheapest hotel booking sites
Easy to scan prices with lots of results shown per page
Option to book some hotels directly through Trivago

Cons

Final price is not displayed
Limited search results compared to other hotel booking sites
No loyalty program or rewards
A few questionable results in the mix

HotelsCombined

Website type: Aggregator

HotelsCombined had the second-most search results right behind Kayak at over 13,000 on average and arguably the best set of filters of any hotel booking site. That makes it a powerhouse for screening out the hotels that don’t meet your travel needs.

Even better, the prices shown are among the cheapest. So why doesn’t it rank higher? The price you see doesn’t include taxes and fees (and there’s no filter for it). Rates can be significantly higher after you click through. There’s also no loyalty program or way to filter by special deals.

Pros

Huge number of search results
Filters for everything you can think of
Among the cheapest rates

Cons

Doesn’t display the final price until you click through
No loyalty program or rewards

Agoda

Website type: OTA

We have a love-hate relationship with Agoda. On one hand, it’s easy to find cheap rates, and the site displays up to 90 results per page for ultimate scrolling and price comparison. It also allowed us to reserve rooms for up to 60 people, which is nice if you’re looking to book on behalf of a large party.

On the other hand, as an OTA, Agoda may not offer better prices than booking directly and the site has a lot of urgent language. It’ll say that a price is a “deal” or that a hotel is sold out by showing a “Just missed it!” message. But when checking with the hotel’s own website, you may find that it actually isn’t sold out and the great deal isn’t a deal at all.

It’s easy to book through Agoda, but you won’t earn rewards for doing so. And even if you find a low rate, there’s an element of second-guessing based on the deceptive messaging throughout the site. So while it “wins” on price and number of results, there’s a serious quality issue that’s hard to account for. Definitely compare what you find here with another site on the list.

TripAdvisor

Website type: Aggregator

TripAdvisor is middle-of-the-road on price, number of average results and results displayed per page. There are two things that set it apart: customer reviews and occasional-best prices—even cheaper than booking direct.

But those all-important reviews have come under scrutiny. TripAdvisor admitted there were 1.3 million fake reviews posted last year, though it caught over 70% of them before they were posted. Still, it’s a problem that’s plagued TripAdvisor for a while. It’s fairly easy to spot the real ones though (especially if they include customer photos), and it’s still a worthwhile place to research, read reviews and possibly grab a cheap booking.

Pros

Lots of reviews—just look for fake ones in the mix
Occasional excellent deals
Clean layout and interface for researching

Cons

No loyalty program or rewards
Doesn’t show final prices up front
Not as many filters as other sites

Expedia and Hotels.com

Website type: OTA

We’re listing Expedia and Hotels.com together because they share a rewards and loyalty program called One Key. That means you can book at one site or the other and redeem rewards with both.

For every city we tested, each site shows nearly identical prices (the average price varies by less than a dollar) and both show 100 results per page. So what’s the difference?

Expedia actually shows more hotel search results and lets you search for additional trip elements, like flights, car rentals, cruises and activities, while Hotels.com focuses primarily on hotels. Also, the One Key rewards program launched in July 2023, so the sites are separate-yet-together until the companies firm up their differences.

Another major perk is you can book homeshare rentals through Vrbo and earn rewards to use across the One Key brands (currently Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo). Expedia has more hotel results, but both are useful for searching and comparing rates. The Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card* and Hotels.com® Rewards Visa® Credit Card* also earn rewards you can redeem with any One Key brand.

The other big benefit with these sites is that final prices are prominently displayed for every option. That swung the price rating down in our formula, but it might be a net positive: There’s no wondering how much you’ll have to pay at checkout. In fact, many people might appreciate the transparency and prefer that option from the get-go, with no filtering required.

Pros