The key to bagging bargain rooms at budget hotel chain Travelodge is timing. The hotel chain tends to release discount £9 - £19 room sales in tranches, and then leave them there until they sell out. Therefore if you try and get a room at the start of a genuine sale, there's widespread availability.

• Sale starts: 6am, Thurs 22 Oct 2009
• 1,000 Half term rooms at £10: For stays 26 Oct to 1 Nov
• 5,000 rooms at £10: For stays 1 Nov '09 - 3 Jan '10
• 44,000 rooms £19-£29: For stays 23 Oct '09 - 3 Jan '10
• Usual room price: £29 -£59
• No. Travelodges taking part: 373

Surprisingly the sale includes 1,000 rooms for next week's half term (26 Oct - 1 Nov). Normally it's sales are only for rooms booked at least 21 days before arrival, but it's waived it for this rule for this one sale (so you can also book rooms from 1-11 November no problem as well).

If you're looking outside those dates, there may be a few £19 rooms leftover from previous sales. Over 373 of Travelodge’s UK hotels are taking part, and the usual price is £29 to £59, so this is a substantial discount.

What you need to do

As soon as the sale starts, use Travelodge's room search to find dates. Be aware, these rooms must be paid for in advance, and are non-refundable.

What are Travelodge rooms like?

Travelodges are not special, but general reports are they are clean, functional and do the job.

It's run this offer many times before and there are lots of happy reviews from MoneySavers. Yet there are some concerns it has a deliberate 'overbooking' policy, though most people don't report problems.

What to do when you get there

As Travelodge deals are so popular with MoneySavers, many have lots of experience of great outings in the nearby locale.

• MoneySavers Top Choices: See the Great Best Travelodge Hotels Hunt
• Daily updated discounted trips: See the Days Out Vouchers deals note.
• Theme park tickets: See the 2for1 Theme Park Tickets deals note.