Holiday Hotel Tip!!!!

[WELUVKDS79]

Ok, I love hotwire and all of those other sites but, just recently our father in lawy came to visit and we decided to book a hotel room for him through hotwire.

We had to call the hotel to ask about shuttle service and found out through conversation it would be cheaper to book directly through them by $10 per night.....SO...I would advise all of you to call and inquire on their rates before spending your mula!! It may be better through expedia, etc and the hotel itself may charge less!

[christmasangel]

I noticed that with some airlines too. We got cheaper flights booking right through the actual website for the airline. Must be that they are catching on and not wanting their customers to go to the sites or what not :)

[Rebirth]

Where are you going?

 

I don't book through those travel sites. I rather book directly from the airline, and hotel. Much better, easier way to cancel. Lesser hassle.

[apreik]

For airlines anyway, Expedia et al are great for searching out the flights. Take the flight numbers and book through the airline. While saving the $5-15 booking fee, the real benefit in my view is dealing with the airline directly if you need to make a change/cancel something.

[civicracinggirl7]

most hotel sites now boast a best rate guarantee for booking through them, so start through them, then check out the "hotel discount" sites (travelocity, expedia, hotwire, hotels.com, etc) and if you find a lower rate contact the hotel. some will give you credit, some bonus points if you have a point program with them, but at the least i'm sure they will match the price. i always book directly through the hotel chain's sites whenever i can though.

[eve]

Well thanks i didn't know it could be cheaper that way

[haberkdrew]

I recently used the Ramada Best Rate or it's Free promotion. The price listed on Orbitz was 1 cent lower than on the Ramada website. So I go one free night!! Nothing like saving $170 dollars!

[apreik]

FWIW I have had a good experience and excellent value using Priceline for hotels. I'd never use them for flights but I did get some good hotel deals through them. I could see it going sour where I was unable to get a non-smoking room, but so far so good. (The twice I've used them)

[babycleat]

FWIW I have had a good experience and excellent value using Priceline for hotels. I'd never use them for flights but I did get some good hotel deals through them. I could see it going sour where I was unable to get a non-smoking room, but so far so good. (The twice I've used them)

I've used priceline.com many times and have been absolutely thrilled w/ the prices I received, espeically in Chicago at the Marriott downtown on the Magnificent Mile - I've been there twice - once @ $79/night and once @ $75/night before taxes on a weekend. - And, I've always called the hotel/emailed and requested a non-smoking - or a queen - or king, etc..

 

What I normally do is check the hotels website, call them, check expedia, etc.. and if I don't have a preference at a specific hotel but want a 3 star hotel or better, then I go to priceline and plug in a price MUCH lower than I've found anywhere...

 

We've saved TONS of money on vacations, etc..

[justbarbour]

There are nominal services charges ($5-$10) charged by Travelocity, Hotwire, Orbitz, etc. You can use those sites to determine which of the major airlines have the cheapest rates. Then go to Southwest.com, Jetblue.com, etc. to check the discount airlines' rates. If the major airlines have cheaper rates, you can go directly to their site and purchase the fare you located on the search engine, but save the service charge.

[kmbrly]

When calling hotels directly inquiring about rates, never take the first "special" they offer. Chances are, that "special" is just their normal 10% discount (AAA, AARP, Govt., etc).

All hotels have "resistance" rates. Hotels provide their Central Reservation Centers with the lowest rate that they'll sell a room for. Sometimes it's called "Best Rate", sometimes it's called a "Manager's Special", or something else, depending on the hotel brand. I worked for Best Western and ours were Mgr Specials, BW Best Rate, or RaceFan Rate (something like that -- same as Best Rate, but geared toward Nascar fans, because BW is "the official hotel of Nascar").

If you say you're just shopping around, or the rate is a little more than you were looking to spend, they'll come back with a lower rate. And it's usually about $10-$20 cheaper than the rate they quoted you to begin with.

 

I used to make up prices, just to get them to book. LOL. Or if they were a walk in, and clearly not going to stay at Rack Rate, I've been known to give a discount because they knew what state they were in.

[gotdealtoday]

When calling hotels directly inquiring about rates, never take the first "special" they offer. Chances are, that "special" is just their normal 10% discount (AAA, AARP, Govt., etc).

All hotels have "resistance" rates. Hotels provide their Central Reservation Centers with the lowest rate that they'll sell a room for. Sometimes it's called "Best Rate", sometimes it's called a "Manager's Special", or something else, depending on the hotel brand. I worked for Best Western and ours were Mgr Specials, BW Best Rate, or RaceFan Rate (something like that -- same as Best Rate, but geared toward Nascar fans, because BW is "the official hotel of Nascar").

If you say you're just shopping around, or the rate is a little more than you were looking to spend, they'll come back with a lower rate. And it's usually about $10-$20 cheaper than the rate they quoted you to begin with.

 

I used to make up prices, just to get them to book. LOL. Or if they were a walk in, and clearly not going to stay at Rack Rate, I've been known to give a discount because they knew what state they were in.

thankx!

Next time ,if someone of my friends wanna get some information about it,you are the best choice,right?thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!