Going on vacation? Check for hotel deals

Coming up in just three weeks: Memorial Day weekend, then June's weddings and graduations, then summer vacations. That means for many it's trip-planning time.

Though airfares are rising, hotel rates, especially in some spots, are dropping, which can balance out a trip's overall cost, according to the Bing Travel Rate Indicator. Ways to snag hotel deals:

Shop locations. If you have leeway, check out places like Las Vegas, Seattle and Orlando, where Bing says premium domestic room rates are dropping by 18, 13 and 9 percent, respectively, from last year. Also check for summer deals in Honolulu, San Francisco and San Diego.

Compare before, and after, booking. For a specific locale, compare hotel prices and book great deals through sites aggregated by Kayak.com.

In many cases you can get a further discount if you later find the same type room at the same hotel for the same dates at a lower price. A trade-off? These bookings tend to be nonrefundable.

Make a deal. Cindy Mardenfeld, president of Infinity Relations, an event management firm in Hauppauge, says she likes to research hotels, then call and see which give the best AAA or American Express deals, pointing to AAA discounts she's getting on a rental car and hotel for an upcoming trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Also, you can lock in the best refundable rate, then check close to departure to see if it's dropped, Consumer Reports advises in its June issue.

Call seven to 10 days in advance, says Michael Bonawandt, director of sales and marketing at the Hyatt Regency Long Island in Hauppauge. "You might be surprised that a lower rate will be available and give you a few dollars back to buy some souvenirs."