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There’s plenty of travel articles written about the joys of turning up to a new city, and walking around to find a place to stay. You take in the sights, get a feel for the area, and you can pick and choose your hostel in person, maybe even negotiate a discount during low periods. And that’s sound advice. But here’s a few reasons why I book my hostels online
- Being the tightarse backpacker that I am, I tend to fly the budget airlines, which tend to get me to my destination at 2:30 in the morning, at an disused military airbase 200 kilometres from the city centre (Frankfurt, Rome, Melbourne – I’m looking at you). The last thing I want to do is catch a bus into the city, traipse around town waking up guest house owners asking for a bed all the while lugging around a heavy backpack. If you already reserve a room (even if it’s just until you get your bearings) you know you only have to do one thing before sweet, sweet sleep – and that’s check in. The hostel might even offer a airport pick up service.
- Not every place is a backpacker Mecca like Khao San Road, catering to your every whim. I could hardly expect to rock up to a place like Los Angeles and walk around until I found an oasis that not only offers a bed, but a tour desk, bar and breakfast in the morning for less than $20. Booking online and at least you’ll know exactly what’s on offer, what the nearest sights are, possible tours and if you read the reviews left by other travellers, you’ll know if the hostel has bed bugs, annoying low flow showers and if the coffee is any good.
- I’m a fastidious planner, and if I’m going to a city for the first time, I’m likely to have booked my accommodation weeks ahead, giving me more time to get out and see the sights, and less time standing around deciding which hostel has more value for money.
- Turning up to a popular city without a booking, especially during holidays and other peak periods might not be a great idea, unless you like the idea of sleeping in a broom closet or paying through the nose for a place that’s sub par – all the good places are bound to fill up first, leaving you with a crumby hostel far from the sights. Also, some countries require proof of address at immigration - like a booking confirmation and not just a scrawled address on the entry card. If you’re visiting a country you haven’t been to before, it’s best to hit the forums like Lonely Planet’s Thorntree to see what the go.
And something I just found out the other day…
- You can get %50 of your deposit back just by booking with HostelBookers.
Now, I use HostelBookers as my online booking portal of choice, primarily (amongst other reasons) as they don’t charge a booking fee. If you’re on a round the world trip, or away for a long period of time, those booking fees add up. But I recently stumbled across their current deal, where they will select 1,000 customers to receive a 50% deposit on their next booking (I’ve included the HostelBookers media release at the bottom of this page).
This is huge, one of my last bookings was for a week in Amsterdam – not exactly the cheapest place in the world- and my 10% deposit which I paid at the time of reservation was greater that the GDP of New Zealand (but lets face it, that’s not hard). They’re also offering everyone who’s previously booked with HostelWorld 10% off their first booking with HostelBookers, which is sure to make a lot of backpackers very happy, and a lot of people at HostelWorld pretty pissed off, but hey, that’s business, baby.
HostelBookers Rewards Loyalty in Backpackers 
Once again HostelBookers highlights several reasons why their customers remain loyal to the backerpackers accommodation specialist. They are 8.7% cheaper than Hostelworld*, don’t charge you a service charge or booking fee, offers a lowest price guarantee and will pay you double the difference if you find the same deal cheaper elsewhere **.
To thank their current customers for their loyalty, HostelBookers has launched a great promotion to demonstrate their appreciation. HostelBookers will randomly select 1,000 customers to receive a 50% deposit refund on their next booking. In addition to this, to really help backpackers in achieving budget travel, they are even offering customers of HostelWorld the same deal when they make their first booking with HostelBookers***. For more details visit the HostelBookers Gives Back to Travellers page.
David Smith, CEO at HostelBookers, states: “This promotion is a great opportunity for customers both new and old to fall in love with HostelBookers and to realise that we have the best deals and rewards. We believe that HostelBookers represents the best value for money for budget travellers and this promotion is part of our ongoing efforts to engage and support them.”
* Survey by Reed Business Insight click for more info
***Terms and conditions apply, booking eligibility must be verified and customers must book using the same email address.
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