joy

Hi, are these really such a good investment? Are the restaurants. hotels, and activities worthwhile? Or, are they acceptable and usable only because they offer a discount? In other words, are these avenues that one would really want to persue?

M.

They can be. Don't expect to get a half-priced room in-season though. Restaurants and attraction discounts can save you a lot, as long as they're places you want to go. Restaurant offerings ranges from sub-par quality to supberb IMO.

Paula

I think it depends on how long you're going to be in a place. If it's a week or more, the book will pay for itself (plus it gives you an idea of what different restaurants are like in the area). We always get one for the Seattle area (where we live) and have gotten them for vacations in New York and Hawaii and been very satisfied.

ab

I use my entertainment book quite a bit but mostly for local stuff like pizza, movie rentals, local attractions. I do get a good discount with some car rental agencies through the entertainment rate, even though the actual coupon in the book can be found in the mail. The E rate lowers the rate quite a bit before the coupon. I've used it for hotels and got a little bit more off but I don't use it that often. Most of the time the savings is local and is worth the $20 donation to the PTA.

I find that the nice restaurants are usually the ones that don't get much business, are starting out or ready to close down. The fast food coupons get used.

When we buy the book I exchange it with a co-worker of my husband who lives in another part of town and we give each other coupons that we'll use and the other person won't. He takes all the golf fee coupons and restaurants near his house, I take the stuff my family will use and near our house.

Have you looked at a book? See how many coupons you would use and if it's worth the $20.

Are you thinking of buying a book for your area or for a trip you are taking?

orville

Most of the restaurant coupons are 2 for 1 deals so as a single person I find them unusable. I suppose I could use them on a date but that would look cheap.

ab

that's something to consider. if you're not going to use the 2 for 1 or the businesses that are listed then don't bother.

Ask to look at someone's book first and see what you would use.

There are lots of cleaners, car washes.
When my kids have friends over I use the 2 for 1 pizza coupons. This summer I've used all the Blockbuster coupons.

I probably wouldn't use a coupon or the card to take someone out to eat unless we both agreed on what a bargain it would be.

You can check the entertainbook on line and see what businesses are included for your area if you don't have access to a book.

I go their and print out extra coupons regularly.

aaa

I actually blindly bought the NYC and Boston books for use last month. Didn't use any of them. I just don't see what's so hot about these entertainment books. The coupons for attractions can often be obtained elsewhere, for free. Maybe in the past it was different, better attraction values, I have no idea. As for the dining choices, I don't know about you, but the last thing I want to do on a tight schedule is have to hunt down various restauarant establishments just because I have a coupon in my hand. The car rental coupons are worthless -- the same codes can be found on internet forums, such as biddingfortravel.com

x

Where do you find these books? Is there a website for them?

Chris

the website is entertainment.com. They have been offering a special of the books for $10 plus shipping and handling for the books good until Nov, 2002.
I have one for my local area and there are quite a few nice restaurants that I am familiar with, some I am not.
I don't know how much use it would be for a trip to a strange city.
It would depend if you would be willing to take a chance on a restaurant you had absolutely no idea about. And if you would be willing to find them.
I sent for movie tickets on the website for Manhattan at $6.00 each and that is a bargain. Tickets in Manhattan are $10 each. Sent them as gifts.

sister

Is the W entertainment.com? I think it is.

couponclipper

If you go to www.entertainment.com , then you can see the businesses listed in each entertainment book and decided if you'll use them For $10, I bought my local book a few weeks ago and with shipping it cost $15. I've already used it enough to save over $15 so, to me it was worth it. Don't think I would buy one for $30 in the beginning of the year, but for the end of the year deal, it was worth it for me for my local area,

x

buy the one for your own city. they list hotels all over the world that you can get discounts. there are often restrictions on when you can use them but if you save 50% on a hotel for one night, the book has paid for itself. don't buy it for a place your travelling to. i doubt you'd use that many restaurant coupons.

Lois

I usually find the book worthwhile. If you're traveling and rent a car, the car rental coupons are usually a better deal than AAA and there are multiple coupons.
Of the few areas I have used, I personally found the NYC one to be the least useful. Others I have used are Boston, Buffalo, Long Island and Hawaii.

bettyk

One thing no one has mentioned is the airline discounts. My Houston book has discounts for Continental and Northwest Airlines. It's only 5% for flights from Houston, but it's 15% or 20% (?) from other cities that aren't "Hubs". It's not a lot of $, but for an overseas flight, it could add up.

jay

Used the book for Nicks,Hau Tree Lanai,
Crouching Lion,Matteos,Trattoria,Poly
Cultural Ctr, Magic of Polynesia and several other restaurants and attractions. Probably saved $400 to $500. Was never made to feel cheap and all accepted it without question or comment. In addition, I always left more of a tip for the server than I would normally. All made it a point to express their thanks.
Jay

max

Buying the Entertainment Book is like investing in the stock market right now. You might come out ahead, but don't probably not.
Most of the restaurants in the books are there for one of two reasons. They are either new and want to build a customer base (so they might be good), or they are old and desparate. And often the staff is mean-spirited when you pull out the card or coupon at the end, which doesn't help your digestion.
Hotels may be listed, but when you call, many say that the rooms allotted for E card members are already sold out -- even if you call way in advance. And if you call way in advance, you might get the response that the hotel won't accept an E-card reservation more than 30 days before your arrival -- which means if they can't unload the room to anyone else at a better rate. Also, the 50 percent savings is very misleading. First of all, it's off the rack rate, which is an arbitrary figure that hardly anybody -- if anybody pays. Secondly, numerous hotels offer a discount of less than 50 percent off rack -- whatever catches their fancy I guess. I have tried using the card several times, when it turned out that the hotel offered a special package or rate that was better than what would be available with the E-card.
And if you do succeed in using the card, how likely are you to be the person who gets an upgrade to a nicer room, if one is available when you check-in. You are more likely to be the person assigned to the room between the elevator and the ice machine.

Pat

I have to disagree with the previous poster about hotels. I have bought one yearly for a number of years, since an organization I belong to sells them as a fundraiser. When we eat out, it's usually a neighborhood place not in the book or fast food so I don't use the restaurant coupons much. But I've always had good luck using them for hotels. When I call to make a reservation I first just ask for a room and get their regular rate and then I ask if the entertainment rate is available. About 2/3 of the time it is, and the rate has varied from 10% to 30% less than what I was quoted originally. A single night pays for the book. I wouldn't bother buying one for a city where I was vacationing. It would be too much of a hassle to seek out the restaurants in an unfamiliar place.

Laurie

One thing no one has mentioned is that you can use your gold card that you get with the book in any city. The only catch is that the restaurants are all numbered. If you use that numbered restaurant in your home town, you can not use the same number again. Anyway, if you are planning to visit a city, go to their website www.entertainment.com and look up what restaurants are available. These are only the restaurants where you would use your card not a coupon.

Henly Gold

I bought the entertainment book in 2001 and used the 50 percent hotel discount twice, once in Venice and once at Rome hotel near airport. I think if you even use the book once, you get your money worth.

Christie

We buy the Entertainment book every year for our hometown (Dallas) for $40, and it always pays for itself at least three times! Most of the Fine Dining entries in our area are for non-chain places, which is the kind of restaurant we actually prefer. Through using the Book, we've discovered some awesome places that we would never have found otherwise. The 2-for-1 deals for sporting events and museums are a great. I've used the movie pass and pizza coupons quite a bit, too, and I usually end up giving the car rental upgrade coupons to grateful friends.

Honestly, I've never used the hotel discounts because there is never a hotel listed near where we want to stay. Maybe in the future?