Direct booking, loyalty programs, timing and the real cost of a deal.
Aggregators are great for searching and risky for problems. Where each booking channel wins on price, flexibility and support.
Points, status and free nights are real, but so is loyalty lock-in. Who benefits, who should stay free, and how the math works.
Same-day rates can drop or double. Which trip types reward waiting, which punish it, and how to hedge with a refundable booking.
There is no single magic window, but there are reliable patterns: holidays and events early, flexible city trips late. The booking windows that work.