I don't often use third party booking sites but this one caught my eye. Club 1 Hotels, a US-based site promises wholesale rates at “over 1 million hotels, 14 cruise lines, 12 car rental partners, 200+ airlines, and more”.

There are two tiers of membership, both normally are paid options but Club 1 are offering our readers free trials of both, so it makes sense to just sign up and see which suits you.

Club 1 Membership

• 1-Year Club 1 Hotels Membership (worth $99) with guarantee savings up to 60% Off at over 1 Million hotels & resorts worldwide including discounts on flights, car rentals, cruise lines, golf tee-times and more.
• No Blackout Dates

On the topic of guaranteed savings, there is a pretty clear target that Club 1 says that they can deliver:

Members receive Guaranteed Savings on every hotel booking made 5-days prior to arrival. If you find a better rate for the same hotel, room and rate type (refundable or non-refundable), we want to beat that rate by:

• $10 per night guaranteed savings at 3-star hotels up to $20
• $15 per night guaranteed savings at 4-star hotels up to $45
• $20 per night guaranteed savings at 5-star hotels up to $60 up to $100 on reservations $900 or more

There is no credit card requirement to join, and the membership does not auto-renew nor auto-bill which firmly puts this into the ‘no-brainer' category as there is nothing to lose and all to gain. The sign up process is simple enough – just follow this link.

Paid Membership – ClubONE

There is also a higher level of membership, specially discounted to $79 from $149, called “ClubONE” which gives:

• 1-Year Club 1 Hotels Membership with savings up to 60% Off at over 1 Million hotels & resorts worldwide including discounts on flights, car rentals, cruise lines, golf tee-times and more. Plus, Earn 5% Back in Points towards future bookings.
• No Blackout Dates
• Largest selection of room types
• Personalized concierge services
• ClubONE Rewards* – Earn 5 points for every $1USD spent on hotel, car rental, cruise, and activity bookings! (equivalent to 5% back on every reservation). Redeem rewards on future bookings. 1,000 points = $10

*Points do not expire. Points cannot be used with discounted e-gift cards or any other promotions. Cannot be applied or earned retroactively. Cannot be redeemed for cash.

There is also a 30-day no-risk trial, and a full refund can be given if no bookings are made, which if you are disciplined enough (I know most PTBM readers are!) is absolutely worth signing up for and either downgrading or cancelling and then re-joining at the lower tier if you change your mind. Sign up pages for both tiers are here.

Let's try it out – our results

I'm looking for a trip to Paris in December, the week before Christmas which is perhaps one of the most expensive times of the year. I decided to compare the price of Golden Tulip Opera de Noaille with Club 1 against Booking.com. The prices for Club 1 were $465.75 for three nights excluding French VAT at 10%, so $512 inclusive (462EUR):

 

Over on Booking.com the same room prices out at $868 inclusive of VAT (784EUR) which makes for an impressive saving of $356! 

Bottom Line

You have absolutely nothing to lose by signing up for the free membership or even going for the paid membership with 30-day refund policy, and based on my own trial I can see very decent savings if used regularly. For major chain hotels you will need to factor in that you won't get elite status benefits but if the price saving is big enough…who cares!