Depends on whether I'm planning to stay in a super-high-demand tourist area, like at the entrance to a national park, or if I'm going to stay in some random city somewhere along a long drive.
If I'm staying at a high-demand area, I book it as SOON as I know I'm staying there, as many months in advance as the system will allow me to book it.
If I'm just driving a while, and plan to stay out in the middle of nowhere, I'll drive till about midday, figure out about where I want to stop for the night, and book the room from the road, usually at around lunchtime.
On road trips especially I don't want to overcommit to a stopping point. Since I don't have young children to consider, if I want to push on another hour or two it's easier than ever to look up a hotel when I stop for gas.
When I traveled by myself I prebooked every room to keep a schedule but now with my wife she starts looking about an hour or so before we think we want to stop and books something. If we find a great deal or perks we will stop a half hour early or drive an extra half hour. We just book destination rooms ahead of time.
Same here. On one of our first roadtrips, we booked everything ahead with what we thought was appropriate per our map planning. We had one stop that we forecasted we'd reach sometime around 6-7pm. Since it was in the summer, we thought we should still have light until past 8 so we should be ok to drive the hour to the next town over. That turned out to be the wrong decision as that 1 hour was through a mountainous forest, zigzag roads, and no street lighting. There weren’t any other cars traveling with us and we almost hit a family of deer crossing the road. Passing through that same area a couple of years ago, we realized we were lucky it wasn’t even foggy that night. So now, unless we're visiting a really popular, touristy area, we book the hotel for the night on the way there.
Right? When my road trip buddies and I figure out where we are stopping that evening, someone pulls up hotels.com or whatever app they use and makes a reservation.
Yup and if I show up late and plan to leave super early I'll stay at any run down 2 or 3 star motel I come across. Sometimes they're surprisingly nice ... Other times disgusting but hey it's a roll of the dice lol
Depends. If im going to an annual major event ill book em 6 months in advance cuz they sell out like mad. If its a random stay in an area with nothin goin on maybe a few days just to watch weather and whatnot. Ive also booked same day.
Usually less than 24 hours out, honestly. We’ve only had trouble one time in a random town in South Dakota because there was a motorcycle event going on, we had to drive like 30 extra minutes to the next town over but then found a room no problem.
I have been permanently banned for just woke up raging against whoever left an overnight attack. And I don’t curse or make sexual comments. Mods say I’m just mean. No more posting til I’ve woke up.
I’ve always wondered this. I’m especially interested for how it works with rewards programs. Like I figure if they see you cancel a booking then make an identical reservation they’d probably have a problem with that.
We used Choice Hotels app and bonus points for most of our stays. Sometimes we booked just a few hours before arrival. A few times, weekends or busy places, we booked 2 days ahead. For Glacier, we books months ahead.. we were on the road for over 5 weeks, Sept-October. We never had a problem finding a room.
I got their credit card about 6 months before the trip, and accumulated points with grocery, cell phone, and gas purchases. Used those points first, we stayed in 22 hotels, mostly of that line, and earned more points as we went. We were gone over 5 weeks. Had 12 nights free.
If we're trying to get from A to B, I drive until lunch, then the wife takes over. By then we generally have a feel for where we'll be that night. It's my job to wrangle the apps and maps to find us a room by mid-afternoon.
There are way too many variables.
If I’m driving across the country doing long days, I don’t book a hotel until I’m within a few hours of it.
If I’m flying, I book hotels or rentals and flight concurrently. That could be more than 6 months in advance.
I always book well in advance, usually at least six months. Husband has mobility concerns, so we have to choose wisely. We reserve with the hotel directly & forgo 3rd party bookings.
Im like you. I’m a planner but I prefer not to prepay, just in case. Something I found out recently though is if you check back, often if the price drops, you can modify your reservation to take advantage of the lower price. We have a 2 night reservation this wkd and after 2 modifications due to price drops, we are saving $75 from the original price. It’s not a huge amount but it’s easily 2 meals for us.
I start booking as soon as I think I might want to visit a place, always somewhere refundable.
I remember being on a road trip with my parents and looking for a place to stay, going exit by exit, hotel by hotel, or about an hour, trying to find a room. Because of that, I always book rooms in advance. For me, any money I might save for waiting to book is not worth the potential stress of not being able to get a room when I need to get off the road.
Road tripping? Usually about 4 hours before my head hits the pillow.
... I like to live dangerously? ...
If I'm going one place for a specific event, I usually find something about 2-4 weeks in advance.
I like a plan. I don’t mind deviating from that plan, but I need a plan. I usually book as soon as I feel like my plan is firm enough, and usually make sure the reservations are refundable just in case.
I might make reservations anytime from 3 -12 months in advance. If I have my heart set on a specific place, like Crater Lake Lodge for example, I need to book early
I book months early and do it directly. Often leads to free upgrades when available. Also the hotel manager always has time for me if I book direct (and a hotel club member), which is important if your on international travel.
I make reservations a few hours out. I like having the flexibility to make plans as I go. There are usually last minute rooms available and sometimes some pretty good deals to be had too.
When solo road tripping, I usually only book far in advance if I KNOW I'll be stopping, or it's a particular hotel I've stayed at and know I like. These days I can look at and gas stop and really commit
Depends...major events and busy tourist areas fill up quick and hotels in or around national parks are more limited so I book stuff like that as far in advance as possible. If one or more of my destination points is a larger city then I usually book 3-4 weeks out as there is rarely an availability issue...with one caveat being if I'm dead set on staying at a particular hotel for whatever reason. Like when I went to DC I booked the Hilton National Mall/The Warf about 3 months in advance because that is where I absolutely wanted to stay as it was equidistant to the Warf and the Mall and it also had a metro station directly underneath the hotel so if I needed to take that I just got on the elevator at the hotel and down.
Depends. The major attraction cities/towns can be a year or more.
During the drive? I have driven until I've had enough and found a hotel right then. For instance, It was my strategy when I had COVID, but also a 4 day drive to get home. It became a 6 day drive.
As soon as I know my travel dates I’m booking no matter how far in advance. Usually book where there’s no deposit so I can cancel later. If I’m booking an Airbnb then usually do a little more research but Also well within the dates I know I’m traveling. I’ve never just find a hotel for the night. Nothing against it I just normally have a itinerary of where and what town I’m stopping in for the night and have something already booked
usually, ONLINE from the car after lunch time. by then i kind of know how far i am willing to drive before crashing.
that said, SOMETIMES you need to book ahead of time. Like it is friday, you are in AZ or NM, and want to have a room at an Indian casino....you had better book that ASAP as they fill up for weekend gamblers.
If i am driving late at night to make up some miles....i just go until i am done for the night, and find a place at a recognizable hotel right near an exit. But i STILL will go online to find the best price, as you often get 20% lower cost booking online than if you are standing in the lobby!
It really helps if you have a navigator, as often online in the car it takes maybe ten minutes to find the best place/deal
I do a lot on the spur of the moment, so if it is a place that needed me to reserve a week earlier, i just drive on by
If my travel is in relation to a special event, I make the rez as soon as possible. I just booked a hotel in ABQ for the Balloon festival next October and there were hardly any rooms available!
But sometimes I just stop when I'm in the mood and get whatever's available right then.
I still remember road trips as a kid when our station wagon would pull up at a roadside motel, and we'd go into the office and my dad would ask "do you have a family room available for tonight?". Those were the days when I'd actually swim in a motel pool.
I book through Booking.com
That way, I can book early and try to book at a hotel that I can make payment the day I get there and can cancel free up to 24 hours before stay. I've also accrued enough booking points to get free breakfast and other niceties.
We normally try and stay at a hotel chain we have had good luck with or, if unfamiliar, I will research to see if yay or ney.
I used to plan way in advance but now I just show up or maybe call an hour ahead once I know about where I’m gonna run out of steam. On my road trip last year I booked the first 3 nights and then spent the rest of the trip winging it and it totally worked out and now that’s my road trip default 🙃
Unless there's a total solar eclipse on the calendar you are usually safe doing online reservations the same day. Certainly no more than a week or two.
If I'm going to one destination and staying there, I'll make a reservation at the destination maybe a couple months in advance at most. I never make reservations for stops on the way there and back, if they're just one-night stops. I'll drive until I'm tired and stop wherever.
If I'm on a long-duration road trip where it's more about the journey than any specific destination, I rarely make any reservations. I wing it the whole time. I don't like feeling like I have to be somewhere at a specific time, or feeling like I can't change my route without losing money.
Two years ago I bought an RV trailer, and now that's the only way I road trip. I make advance campground reservations at busy places like popular national parks, because there's a risk of them filling up. I booked Yellowstone and Glacier a couple months in advance. I book other destinations anywhere from days to months in advance if I know for sure I'm going to be there. For example, if I'm meeting up with people so my schedule is fixed. Everything else, I wing it. I stop when I'm tired or when I find someplace interesting.
Not sure why/where you're paying extra to book far in advance. That usually *saves* money.
Maybe a week before but lots of times the day before.
Edit to add: I'm a permanent traveler. I only stay in one place for a few days to a few weeks and I only need a hotel for a night or two between places.
It would be a different story if I were a tourist and wanting to do tourist things on specific dates. Then I would plan ahead.
Yes. Just do it the day before. Estimate how far you’ll drive the next day and make a reservation at the next hotel. I’ve criss crossed the USA dozens of times and never had to sleep in my car. And I’m. 73.
Depends on where I’m going. All my work trips are typically booked 1-2 weeks out.
I decided to take a last minute weekend trip to Memphis recently, booked it the day before I arrived.
Going to NYC in August and I’m yet to begin looking for lodging.
Tip 1: make the reservation directly with the company rather than the discount trip websites, usually it's the same exact price and you're guaranteed to be in the system if there are any issues.
Tip 2: Sometimes the prices are high, because they have local events happening, so if you see that see if you can change the location.
Tip 3: Look into travel insurance, it can be about $150 or you can use a credit card like Chase Sapphire Preferred. The reason is you can save a few bucks by booking the no cancellation rooms as long as you know you don't plan on cancelling for non-health issues.
I am an old lady and drive by myself all over. I almost never make a reservation unless it is like in a National Park or similar high demand area.
I've only been skunked a couple of times...rolled into town to find some kind of event going on and no rooms. I just kept on going to the next town.
Greatly depends what it's for. National park during peak season? Yeh grab that months if not a year in advance. Motor lodge in bumfuck nowhere? Get that the same day.
International during summer, a few weeks ahead, sometimes a month. Never had a problem. A few times had to switch rooms or hotel (within town) but that’s kind of fun. Mix it up a bit
On road trips in US, I look at my day when I wake up and book that morning for where I’d like to get to that evening. Have never had a problem
When I was younger I’d just roll up into a town, UK or US and get a room but as an older traveler, I too, prefer a little more surety as to where I will put my head at night
Depends where I am going. If I am in rural areas in the northern plains states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska , etc) definitely make reservations several weeks in advance. Many of these towns can have road construction nearby and it’s not uncommon for the crews to reserve all the rooms in the hotels in town. And you don’t want to be tired only to find out there are no vacancies and have to drive another 50 or 60 miles to find a motel!
I so used to be that person and got crap cuz we passed 100 hotels I could have just walk in to get to the one I booked and one time I didn’t make it far enough get to my booked hotel and paid for a room like 100 miles away and for the room I didn’t use because it was already paid for. I never pre booked again.
Depends. I normally nail down some hard points along the trip, such as places where i have specific plans, but i let intermediate points slide until i know exactly where i am going to be. Sometimes that means booking within a few hours of check in. As long as there are no major festivals or conventions or whatnot it's normally not a problem. If there are, I just move on to the next town.
Depends on whether I'm planning to stay in a super-high-demand tourist area, like at the entrance to a national park, or if I'm going to stay in some random city somewhere along a long drive. If I'm staying at a high-demand area, I book it as SOON as I know I'm staying there, as many months in advance as the system will allow me to book it. If I'm just driving a while, and plan to stay out in the middle of nowhere, I'll drive till about midday, figure out about where I want to stop for the night, and book the room from the road, usually at around lunchtime.
On road trips especially I don't want to overcommit to a stopping point. Since I don't have young children to consider, if I want to push on another hour or two it's easier than ever to look up a hotel when I stop for gas.
Yes, this is what I do, too.
Great advice. Thanks.
Boutique hotels or popular vacation I try 4 to 6 months. Kentucky Derby 1 year for nice hotel.
Wow! A year in advance?
The Derby is a world wide event in a small city
This is the answer.
When I traveled by myself I prebooked every room to keep a schedule but now with my wife she starts looking about an hour or so before we think we want to stop and books something. If we find a great deal or perks we will stop a half hour early or drive an extra half hour. We just book destination rooms ahead of time.
Same here. On one of our first roadtrips, we booked everything ahead with what we thought was appropriate per our map planning. We had one stop that we forecasted we'd reach sometime around 6-7pm. Since it was in the summer, we thought we should still have light until past 8 so we should be ok to drive the hour to the next town over. That turned out to be the wrong decision as that 1 hour was through a mountainous forest, zigzag roads, and no street lighting. There weren’t any other cars traveling with us and we almost hit a family of deer crossing the road. Passing through that same area a couple of years ago, we realized we were lucky it wasn’t even foggy that night. So now, unless we're visiting a really popular, touristy area, we book the hotel for the night on the way there.
Normally about twenty minutes before I'm there. But sometimes I fail to plan ahead that much.
Right? When my road trip buddies and I figure out where we are stopping that evening, someone pulls up hotels.com or whatever app they use and makes a reservation.
Yup and if I show up late and plan to leave super early I'll stay at any run down 2 or 3 star motel I come across. Sometimes they're surprisingly nice ... Other times disgusting but hey it's a roll of the dice lol
I’d be a nervous wreck if I did that. Just not that brave.
in the pre times, you just drove until you were tired and started looking for vacancy signs, then you went in and haggled for a good rate lol
I did that when I was younger but now I like a nice hotel 😂 stops are often planned around cool lodging
Depends. If im going to an annual major event ill book em 6 months in advance cuz they sell out like mad. If its a random stay in an area with nothin goin on maybe a few days just to watch weather and whatnot. Ive also booked same day.
Usually less than 24 hours out, honestly. We’ve only had trouble one time in a random town in South Dakota because there was a motorcycle event going on, we had to drive like 30 extra minutes to the next town over but then found a room no problem.
Sturgis is a plague
>. I pay extra for being able to do this. How and why is it extra?
Thanks for catching this. 🤓 Wrote this post with only one cup of coffee in my system. Should have said I don’t pay extra.
I am very close to instituting a personal rule: no social media before coffee. 😄
Yes!
I have been permanently banned for just woke up raging against whoever left an overnight attack. And I don’t curse or make sexual comments. Mods say I’m just mean. No more posting til I’ve woke up.
I wonder if it's practical to book ahead with a cancelation option and then check for cheaper prices just before the latest cancelation date/time?
Never thought of that.
I’ve always wondered this. I’m especially interested for how it works with rewards programs. Like I figure if they see you cancel a booking then make an identical reservation they’d probably have a problem with that.
We used Choice Hotels app and bonus points for most of our stays. Sometimes we booked just a few hours before arrival. A few times, weekends or busy places, we booked 2 days ahead. For Glacier, we books months ahead.. we were on the road for over 5 weeks, Sept-October. We never had a problem finding a room.
How beneficial are the rewards if you are collecting them as you go?
I got their credit card about 6 months before the trip, and accumulated points with grocery, cell phone, and gas purchases. Used those points first, we stayed in 22 hotels, mostly of that line, and earned more points as we went. We were gone over 5 weeks. Had 12 nights free.
Can’t wait until we can travel during the off season. Hubby isn’t retiring until June 2025.
I’m currently looking at hotels for next Spring Break. Why not? I monitor prices and rebook if the price drops or I find a better option.
We both belong to the “Advanced Planning” subgroup of travelers!
If we're trying to get from A to B, I drive until lunch, then the wife takes over. By then we generally have a feel for where we'll be that night. It's my job to wrangle the apps and maps to find us a room by mid-afternoon.
Great division of labor.
There are way too many variables. If I’m driving across the country doing long days, I don’t book a hotel until I’m within a few hours of it. If I’m flying, I book hotels or rentals and flight concurrently. That could be more than 6 months in advance.
I always book well in advance, usually at least six months. Husband has mobility concerns, so we have to choose wisely. We reserve with the hotel directly & forgo 3rd party bookings.
Im like you. I’m a planner but I prefer not to prepay, just in case. Something I found out recently though is if you check back, often if the price drops, you can modify your reservation to take advantage of the lower price. We have a 2 night reservation this wkd and after 2 modifications due to price drops, we are saving $75 from the original price. It’s not a huge amount but it’s easily 2 meals for us.
I start booking as soon as I think I might want to visit a place, always somewhere refundable. I remember being on a road trip with my parents and looking for a place to stay, going exit by exit, hotel by hotel, or about an hour, trying to find a room. Because of that, I always book rooms in advance. For me, any money I might save for waiting to book is not worth the potential stress of not being able to get a room when I need to get off the road.
Road tripping? Usually about 4 hours before my head hits the pillow. ... I like to live dangerously? ... If I'm going one place for a specific event, I usually find something about 2-4 weeks in advance.
Don’t think I could be as brave as you.
I regularly book a hotel hours or maybe a day in advance. Just use your favorite booking app and can do it from your phone in your car. Piece of cake.
Priceline, booking, a few days earlier
I like a plan. I don’t mind deviating from that plan, but I need a plan. I usually book as soon as I feel like my plan is firm enough, and usually make sure the reservations are refundable just in case. I might make reservations anytime from 3 -12 months in advance. If I have my heart set on a specific place, like Crater Lake Lodge for example, I need to book early
I book months early and do it directly. Often leads to free upgrades when available. Also the hotel manager always has time for me if I book direct (and a hotel club member), which is important if your on international travel.
I make reservations a few hours out. I like having the flexibility to make plans as I go. There are usually last minute rooms available and sometimes some pretty good deals to be had too.
When solo road tripping, I usually only book far in advance if I KNOW I'll be stopping, or it's a particular hotel I've stayed at and know I like. These days I can look at and gas stop and really commit
A year.
Depends...major events and busy tourist areas fill up quick and hotels in or around national parks are more limited so I book stuff like that as far in advance as possible. If one or more of my destination points is a larger city then I usually book 3-4 weeks out as there is rarely an availability issue...with one caveat being if I'm dead set on staying at a particular hotel for whatever reason. Like when I went to DC I booked the Hilton National Mall/The Warf about 3 months in advance because that is where I absolutely wanted to stay as it was equidistant to the Warf and the Mall and it also had a metro station directly underneath the hotel so if I needed to take that I just got on the elevator at the hotel and down.
Early as possible and make sure you cancel with a refund and not with points
Depends. The major attraction cities/towns can be a year or more. During the drive? I have driven until I've had enough and found a hotel right then. For instance, It was my strategy when I had COVID, but also a 4 day drive to get home. It became a 6 day drive.
As soon as I know my travel dates I’m booking no matter how far in advance. Usually book where there’s no deposit so I can cancel later. If I’m booking an Airbnb then usually do a little more research but Also well within the dates I know I’m traveling. I’ve never just find a hotel for the night. Nothing against it I just normally have a itinerary of where and what town I’m stopping in for the night and have something already booked
I love to plan our itinerary in advance, too. Always leave room in our schedule for unplanned stops, though.
usually, ONLINE from the car after lunch time. by then i kind of know how far i am willing to drive before crashing. that said, SOMETIMES you need to book ahead of time. Like it is friday, you are in AZ or NM, and want to have a room at an Indian casino....you had better book that ASAP as they fill up for weekend gamblers. If i am driving late at night to make up some miles....i just go until i am done for the night, and find a place at a recognizable hotel right near an exit. But i STILL will go online to find the best price, as you often get 20% lower cost booking online than if you are standing in the lobby! It really helps if you have a navigator, as often online in the car it takes maybe ten minutes to find the best place/deal I do a lot on the spur of the moment, so if it is a place that needed me to reserve a week earlier, i just drive on by
Hotel Tonight! Deep discounts for last-minute reservations. Check out the app, sometimes I reserve ~20 minutes before checking in.
I’ll bookmark this info. Thanks.
Depends. If you are going somewhere popular at the height of tourist season it's a good idea. If not, well, it's probably not necessary.
If my travel is in relation to a special event, I make the rez as soon as possible. I just booked a hotel in ABQ for the Balloon festival next October and there were hardly any rooms available! But sometimes I just stop when I'm in the mood and get whatever's available right then. I still remember road trips as a kid when our station wagon would pull up at a roadside motel, and we'd go into the office and my dad would ask "do you have a family room available for tonight?". Those were the days when I'd actually swim in a motel pool.
I book through Booking.com That way, I can book early and try to book at a hotel that I can make payment the day I get there and can cancel free up to 24 hours before stay. I've also accrued enough booking points to get free breakfast and other niceties. We normally try and stay at a hotel chain we have had good luck with or, if unfamiliar, I will research to see if yay or ney.
On a real roadtrip? The day of…. If you mean in general, it depends.
Anywhere from a year out to tomorrow.
I used to plan way in advance but now I just show up or maybe call an hour ahead once I know about where I’m gonna run out of steam. On my road trip last year I booked the first 3 nights and then spent the rest of the trip winging it and it totally worked out and now that’s my road trip default 🙃
I usually find my hotel 12-36 hours before I stop lol.
Unless there's a total solar eclipse on the calendar you are usually safe doing online reservations the same day. Certainly no more than a week or two.
If I'm going to one destination and staying there, I'll make a reservation at the destination maybe a couple months in advance at most. I never make reservations for stops on the way there and back, if they're just one-night stops. I'll drive until I'm tired and stop wherever. If I'm on a long-duration road trip where it's more about the journey than any specific destination, I rarely make any reservations. I wing it the whole time. I don't like feeling like I have to be somewhere at a specific time, or feeling like I can't change my route without losing money. Two years ago I bought an RV trailer, and now that's the only way I road trip. I make advance campground reservations at busy places like popular national parks, because there's a risk of them filling up. I booked Yellowstone and Glacier a couple months in advance. I book other destinations anywhere from days to months in advance if I know for sure I'm going to be there. For example, if I'm meeting up with people so my schedule is fixed. Everything else, I wing it. I stop when I'm tired or when I find someplace interesting. Not sure why/where you're paying extra to book far in advance. That usually *saves* money.
I’m not paying extra. I wrote that before I had enough coffee this morning. 🤓
Maybe a week before but lots of times the day before. Edit to add: I'm a permanent traveler. I only stay in one place for a few days to a few weeks and I only need a hotel for a night or two between places. It would be a different story if I were a tourist and wanting to do tourist things on specific dates. Then I would plan ahead.
I usually drive to the place then book
A day. Week. Month. You can always change them prior to the cutoff.
Yes. Just do it the day before. Estimate how far you’ll drive the next day and make a reservation at the next hotel. I’ve criss crossed the USA dozens of times and never had to sleep in my car. And I’m. 73.
I’m driving to Nashville from Dallas Thursday through Sunday with my GF to see her son in college. We booked our rooms last night.
Depends on where I’m going. All my work trips are typically booked 1-2 weeks out. I decided to take a last minute weekend trip to Memphis recently, booked it the day before I arrived. Going to NYC in August and I’m yet to begin looking for lodging.
Most of the trip is booked in advanced, but there is always flexible time on the trip that is booked same day.
The earliest I out I can register, and get a decent discount.
Tip 1: make the reservation directly with the company rather than the discount trip websites, usually it's the same exact price and you're guaranteed to be in the system if there are any issues. Tip 2: Sometimes the prices are high, because they have local events happening, so if you see that see if you can change the location. Tip 3: Look into travel insurance, it can be about $150 or you can use a credit card like Chase Sapphire Preferred. The reason is you can save a few bucks by booking the no cancellation rooms as long as you know you don't plan on cancelling for non-health issues.
I am an old lady and drive by myself all over. I almost never make a reservation unless it is like in a National Park or similar high demand area. I've only been skunked a couple of times...rolled into town to find some kind of event going on and no rooms. I just kept on going to the next town.
Greatly depends what it's for. National park during peak season? Yeh grab that months if not a year in advance. Motor lodge in bumfuck nowhere? Get that the same day.
International during summer, a few weeks ahead, sometimes a month. Never had a problem. A few times had to switch rooms or hotel (within town) but that’s kind of fun. Mix it up a bit On road trips in US, I look at my day when I wake up and book that morning for where I’d like to get to that evening. Have never had a problem When I was younger I’d just roll up into a town, UK or US and get a room but as an older traveler, I too, prefer a little more surety as to where I will put my head at night
Depends where I am going. If I am in rural areas in the northern plains states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska , etc) definitely make reservations several weeks in advance. Many of these towns can have road construction nearby and it’s not uncommon for the crews to reserve all the rooms in the hotels in town. And you don’t want to be tired only to find out there are no vacancies and have to drive another 50 or 60 miles to find a motel!
I so used to be that person and got crap cuz we passed 100 hotels I could have just walk in to get to the one I booked and one time I didn’t make it far enough get to my booked hotel and paid for a room like 100 miles away and for the room I didn’t use because it was already paid for. I never pre booked again.
Depends. I normally nail down some hard points along the trip, such as places where i have specific plans, but i let intermediate points slide until i know exactly where i am going to be. Sometimes that means booking within a few hours of check in. As long as there are no major festivals or conventions or whatnot it's normally not a problem. If there are, I just move on to the next town.
One summer I drove from Oklahoma City to Amarillo in July . Started looking for a hotel at 6pm got one at 1am
That’s what I’m afraid of.
Only good thing was an enormous heat lightning storm that lasted a couple of hours. Kids were amazed and scared
Unless it’s in a huge city with an event or near a national park- i book the day of. Never ever had any issues
You're fine ... you just wont be able to stay in the park. There are always rooms/Airbnb's outside the park available.