Internet Sources for Cost-Effective Vacations

A friend of mine recently told me to start checking out sites such as Priceline and Hotwire when shopping around for travel deals, both on business trips and personal vacations.

Some things I noticed while reading:

• Use Priceline to bid on four star hotels to get them cheaper. Unfortunately, you won’t find out the name of the hotel until your credit card has been charged; however, it’s all part of the adventure, right?!
  
• Don’t expect the best room that the hotel has to offer. Sometimes, hotels give Priceline customers less-desirable rooms. Priceline denies this, but there are many common complaints to this effect.
  
• You cannot make any cancellations or other changes once your bid is accepted and your credit card is charged.
  
• The ‘Winning Bids’ tab on the Priceline website or BiddingForTravel.com will give you ideas of how/what to bid.
  
• You can use sites such as Orbitz, Priceline, or Kayak to bid on airplane tickets.
  
• For group bookings, try Priceline’s reverse bidding service, where you specify what city/dates/number of people you want to book, and Priceline gives this info to hotel managers, who come back with their best offers for you. Even if you do not go with one of these bids, the service is still free.
  
  The bottom line? Don’t be afraid to shop around and do internet research before committing yourself to anything. It's summertime and people are looking to GO. Before you join the hordes at the beach, consider going somewhere unique and check out any deals that might be available. Then pack your bags and get ready to relax and have some fun!

See the attached articles below for resources and advice on how to use discount sites.

Things to keep in mind... When checking out Hotwire, bid lower than Hotwire. When booking a trip, consider having a Google map open as well as Tripadvisor and Hotwire/Priceline open at the same time to ensure you are booking in the right location.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/business/13road.html
http://buzzmodo.typepad.com/buzznovation/2006/06/business_intell.html
http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2009/02/priceline_is_bloggin.html (my favorite)
http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/blogs/perrinpost/2008/11/super-hotel-dea.html