This is not a travel hack, or a booking where you use points or status to get an early hotel check in. Unfortunately, you will have to pay for this early hotel check in. But it’s guaranteed to work and it’s a game changer for international travel. I mean, I guess it could be considered a hack, but it costs too much money to be a truly great travel hack. Unfortunately, it’s worth the cost.
Our strategy for checking in to a hotel room early is to literally make the hotel reservation so that it starts the day before you arrive. Early check ins with points or status are almost never guaranteed, and the check in times aren’t that much earlier than the standard check in time. But if you are traveling overseas and you are going to get there between 6:00 am and 12:00 pm, it is the best feeling ever to go straight into your room upon arrival and lay down on the freshly made hotel bed.
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Our Early Hotel Check In Strategy: Why Would You Do This?
Flights from the United States to overseas destinations are usually +1 days, sometimes +2 days, meaning you are going to land in your vacation spot the next day, or even two days later with time changes and layovers. You can see the little +1 or +2 or even (but hopefully it never comes to this) +3, when you search flights on the carrier website or an aggregate search engine.
Which means you are arriving in your destination a day or two after you left home, after many hours of traveling, possibly carrying multiple pieces of luggage, and you can’t check into your hotel room until 2:00 or 3:00 pm.
If I have clients who are arriving at their destination before noon after flying overseas, I will always suggest booking their hotel room for the day before. That way, when they arrive, they can go straight to their hotel, get into a room, freshen up, change clothes and even nap. They don’t have to worry about what they are going to do with their luggage for half of the day while they are sightseeing. This is the most luxurious thing you can do for yourself.
Not everyone takes me up on it. In fact, I would say maybe 20% of people I propose this to say yes. But I always offer.
I don’t suggest it to people arriving in the window of like 12:00 to 2:00 pm because in these situations you go to your hotel, ask them to store your luggage for a couple of hours, go have a meal or coffee and by the time you’re done you can probably get into your room. But if you are getting into Paris or Rome or somewhere at 7:00 am, it’s going to be an incredible relief to be able to change and rest and store your luggage.
Last year I put together a New Zealand itinerary for a client who was traveling from San Francisco to Auckland and then touring the islands for almost a month. His flight was 13 hours long, it departed at 9:00 pm and he arrived in Auckland just before 6:00 o’clock in the morning two days later, New Zealand time. We set up an airport hotel with an on-site restaurant for him. He took the airport shuttle to his hotel and was in his room by 8:00 am. He slept for several hours, had a meal or two and then the next day picked up his rental car and set out to explore New Zealand completely rested and ready to go.
Our Early Hotel Check In Strategy: How Does It Work?
Step one is to set your hotel booking to start the day before you are actually going to arrive. If you are reserving your hotel room online, just set the check in day for the day before your airplane lands. Or, if you booking over the phone, have the reservation agent set it for the day before you land. You don’t have to explain what you are doing to the person making the reservation.
Our Early Hotel Check In Strategy: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART
Step two (AND THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART) is to call your hotel and tell them that you will not be there until the morning following your check in date. ASK THEM TO PUT A NOTE ON YOUR RESERVATION. Because hotels will give your room away if they think you haven’t shown up for your reservation. Emailing can also be a good option as long as there is a good email address that goes to someone at the actual hotel and not a corporate email address that is going to somewhere no one knows. I like to email because then you have a written record of your confirmation and the hotel’s reply.
Our Early Hotel Check In Strategy: When Should You Make That Phone Call?
It’s better to to wait and make this call or send this email when you are close to your departure date. If you are making your reservation months out from your arrival, wait until a week or so before you leave to call. YOU CAN CALL AND CONFIRM AGAIN THE DAY BEFORE! I am a big fan of confirming hotel reservations, especially if they are booked through a third party.
Our Early Hotel Check In Strategy: Show Up and Enjoy
Step three is to simply show up and check in when you get there. It works, and it is so lovely to be in a clean hotel room after 8 or 10 or 15 hours of airplane travel.
Have you used this strategy for giving yourself an incredible early hotel check in? Did you think it was worth it? Let us know in the comments!
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