When you hear the term "rack rate" for hotel pricing, it translates as "pay through the nose."

It is the list price, the highest one you'll pay for a hotel room.

Many people pay it without thinking twice. But if you're smart, persistent and follow these tips, you'll never get stuck with the rack rate again.

* Bargain for a better price. This is Rule No. 1. If you remember nothing else, remember to always, always, always try to get a lower price.

Getting a hotel room is not like buying pork chops or breakfast cereal at Safeway; prices are almost always negotiable. Put yourself in the shoes of a hotel owner. A room sold at half-price still pays more than an empty one. And once the night is gone, the money for an unsold room is lost forever.

Here's what you do: Call the hotel ahead of time, let the reservationist know you're shopping around, ask for the lowest possible rate and then negotiate the price down from there.

* Don't call the 800 number. If your hotel is part of a chain, do not book your room by calling the chain's national toll-free number. Call the hotel directly.

Almost without exception, you will pay rack rate if you book on the chain's national number. The operator will never tell you -- and probably won't know -- about the hotel's weekend special or the fact that 60 percent of the rooms are empty and almost any payment would be accepted.

* Do call the 800 numbers of hotel booking services, or consolidators. Booking services can get rooms for as much as 40, 50, even 70 percent off the rack rate. The services are free. They often can find a room for you in a city that reportedly is all booked up -- a near-constant state of affairs in, say, New York.

The nation's largest booking service is Hotel Reservations Network (800-964-6835, 7 a.m.-1 a.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-midnight Sunday).

A quick check found that HRN matched or bettered prices we could get directly from many Chicago hotels. It has 40 hotels in that city. Another good service is Hotelsavers (800-766-6148, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday).

* Book early. If you reserve a room anywhere from a week to a month in advance, you might get as much as 50 percent off. Many hotels don't start demanding their rack rates until the occupancy has hit 80 percent or above.

* Keep checking. Once you've booked a room far ahead, keep calling back perhaps once every week or two. Special packages can emerge. If the hotel occupancy looks low, you might be able to get a lower price.

* Ask your travel agent. Many travel agents, particularly those with large chains such as American Express or Carlson Wagonlit, offer preferred rates, typically about 20 percent off.

* Invoke whatever organization you can. Once the negotiating starts, ask about discounts -- AAA, AARP, corporate, government, whatever.

Many hotels will drop the price by 5 percent to 10 percent for members of the American Automobile Association (AAA), and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), if you are 50 or older.

* Join a half-price club. Travelers buy a discount directory. It lists participating hotels that cut their prices in half for card-carrying members if hotel occupancy is below 80 percent.

Hotels often join and drop out of these programs, however. So you might call a listed hotel only to find that it no longer honors the card. To get the discount, you must show the card. And rest assured, if the hotel's occupancy is high, you will not get the discount.

When picking a club, try to find one with the most properties in the areas you are most interested in visiting.

The biggest operation is Entertainment Publications, with 4,500 properties in North America, 800-plus in Europe and others in Africa and Asia (800-445-4137, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday). Here's how it works: You buy discount books for the area you're interested in. For example, three books cover Chicago (north, south and west); each costs $44.95, including shipping.

You might also check Encore (800-638-0930, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays). A one-year membership is $59.95, though prices vary depending on the credit card used.

* Consider timing. Some times are good for getting deals, some are not.

In fact, this is the low season for most hotels in the nation's northern tier. You should find discounts and deals galore. Prices go up in the warm months in Chicago; but go down in, say, Miami, where it's sweltering.

* Consider location. Not enough inns, not enough rooms at the inns. That's the story for New York, San Francisco and a number of major cities. So prices are high, and they tend to stay that way. And often it's hard to find a room, much less a price break.

On the other hand, Las Vegas, Cancun and a number of other big tourist cities are overbuilt with hotels. There, you can almost always get a deal.

In brief

Bargains

Hyatt Touch Weekends offer an easy and inexpensive getaway. Rates for the weekend at Hyatt hotels across the county begin at $69 a night. When guests arrive they receive a "Things to Do" card filled with information about local attractions from shopping to cultural activities. All weekend guests also receive a bonus. From now through April 25, guests receive a $25 dining certificate to sample the hotel's dishes. For more information, call 800-233-1234 and ask for the offer code "touch."

Offbeat

You're bored with Paris, tired of the Great Barrier Reef, and hang-gliding the Himalayas just doesn't thrill you the way it once did. That's why you're here, standing on the Dora Observation Platform, peering into North Korea. You left Imjin-gak, South Korea, this morning about 9, saw a film about the Korean War, entered a North Korean-built infiltration tunnel. Your inspection of Korea's DMZ, or demilitarized zone, ends this afternoon about 5, after you've paid a call upon Unification Village. You won't breathe a word that your day tour of this Cold War outpost cost you less than $4. (800-TOUR-KOREA)

Online

Delta Air Lines has announced it will post heavily discounted, short-notice weekend fares to various U.S. cities regularly on its Internet Web site to try to entice people to book online.

Although Delta has occasionally offered such fares in the past, the weekly posting is new. In a program similar to other major airlines, Delta is posting the round-trip fares each Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. EST, good only for departures on the next Saturday and returns the following Monday or Tuesday. The tickets must be bought online at the site, http://www.delta-air. com. Click on "Special Offers."

Students

A $20 International Student Exchange Card allows any student 12 and older to get $50 off purchase of any ticket on any airline to Europe, Asia, Africa, South America or Australia, as well as discounts on admissions to museums, theaters, castles and the like. Student and Faculty ISE cards can be purchased with a credit card by calling 888-473-2273. For information, 800-255-1000.

-- Wire reports

Pub Date: 03/14/99