How does Entertainment book work?
 

Hi All,

Might seem like a silly question, but I've never used these before. If I order a Santa Barbara/Venture Entertainment book for 2004, then I can use it only in that area until Nov. 1, right? A poster on another thread of mine pointed out a great hotel deal with the Entertainment book rate, and I'd like to give it a shot, since the book is only $15 including shipping for the 2004 version.

Another silly question...is the entertainment card the same thing as the book? Does the card simply come with the book and thats what I show to the hotel to get my Entertainment card rate?

Thanks! Just trying to figure this out before I bite the bullet and buy the book. :)

Entertainment card does come with the book. There are higher end restaurants listed in the beginning of the book that require the card to get their discount. Once you use their offer, they punch out their number on the back of the card. A good restaurant by us that we love is cool in that they will take the discount, but don't punch the card so we can use it again.

As to using it for a hotel, I've gotten the entertainment rate, but have never been asked to show the card.

The entertainment book is a huge value - just using it to buy one entree/get one free from one of the better restaurants pays for itself and then some, not to mention all the coupons for fast food, etc.

Hi there, just got back from California trip. I have an Entertainment book and use it for the restaurants. For hotels, I really did get the best prices by booking directly through the hotel or their website. If you're going to buy the book for restaurants, great. Don't bother for hotels or car rentals.
Also, you don't need to buy a local book to get the hotel rate. If you buy your own book you can use it for restaurants in your own town and the hotel discounts apply worldwide.
Good luck.

I buy it yearly because one or more organizations I'm affiliated with sell it as a fund raiser and I feel obligated. I'm really bad at remembering to use it for restaurants, but most years I'm able to get a good hotel deal at least once with it. Even one hotel night pays for the book.

Our book, which was for Canada, got us half off the price of a hotel room in Oregon. It wasn't listed in the book either so I always ask.

Thanks for the replies guys! The East Bay California book for 2004 was sold out, so I bought the San Francisco 2004 book for $9.99 + $5 shipping. I also booked the hotel I need in Santa Barbara online with the "Entertainment Card" Rate for only $55! Woo-hoo!

Now I'm curious to see what other deals in SF I can find in the book before it expires! Thanks again!

Good job, AZ! don't forget to cancel that nasty Motel 6!

Where do you buy these entertainment books? Is there a website? We travel to the U.S. quite frequently, especially New York and San Francisco, and we're planning a trip to Arizona in November. Would we have to buy 3 books, one for each area? Are there any books that are better than others?

Clark--

Glad you saw my response! Thanks to you--cinnamon rolls here we come! :) And I already cancelled the Motel 6.

Antlori--I am far from an expert on these books, but I ordered mine at entertainment.com as Clark from above suggested on another thread. As Jackie44 suggested above, it seems the hotel coupons are worldwide, but the restaurant coupons might just be regional (suggesting you would need to decide whether to buy a specific book for the specific area you're visiting.)

Thank, I'll check out that website. Sounds like it's worth a look.

If you bought a book for each area you're travelling to it's good for sights, amusements, restaurants and local stuff. All of the books have the same hotels, car rentals, other travel, and some retail chains, and are universal. The hotels, I've found, are all over the map as far as the discounting goes. I've found some Entertainment rates to be higher than internet rates. You just have to do your homework for each hotel you're considering. Look up each at their own website, call for the Entertainment rate, and check the internet search engine rates. Every one hotel/motel is different. Some also ask for the card at check-in and some don't. I've bought a book for years and it typically pays for itself many times over. I just booked a room in Plymouth, Mass. for $90. The cheapest internet and website rates ranged from $139-$169. Cha-Ching...it paid for itself another 2 times. I'd say buy at least one and use that for your travels. Have fun!

Thanks for the advice, sam. We usually do Priceline for hotels and get very good rates. I just checked the website and see that the NY 2005 book is $25 but then it says if you buy now you get $10 off + free shipping. That sounds like a pretty good deal. All you have to do is save $15 in order to recover the cost of the book. Maybe I'll try that one and see how it works for me.

I just bought a book for the first time for our upcoming trip to SF. Is it okay to cut out the coupons we might use each day rather than carrying the book around? For some reason I thought I read that you must present the book in order to keep people from purchasing one book and sharing it. I have read the information on their web-site and find nothing that addresses this issue. Hope someone out there who has used the book can answer my question. Thanks!

I always just cut the coupons out.

mim you can take the coupons out of the book, but some places might ask you to show your "membership card" also, when you present your coupon. This is the way they make sure you're not sharing. That said, I must admit only with one coupon in six years has anyone ever asked me to see the card.


On hotels, I find that they are more strict lately. The hotel deal is basically that when a hotel projects it will be less than 80% full on your day of arrival, they will give you a half price room when you reserve ahead and present your card at check-in. It used to work really well, but now it seems EVERYONE is an entertainment cardholder so the deals are harder and harder to come by.

Not sure if it states this in THIS years books, but in past years, the deal was that if they didn't have the half price rate available to you, they still must offer you 10% off whatever promotional rate they have going for that night. So if you end up booking a "better deal" online...you should still ask for another 10% off at check-in time by presenting your card.

You can read all the "rules of use" in the book. Also, as the year goes on, restaurants go out of business or no longer accept the card. There is a number to call in every book that is a recorded message of any restaurant that has left the program.

I recently paid $35 a night for a great Best Western in Salt Lake City, including breakfast for two! Just one extra-special find like this pays for the whole book.

Question for antlori: I tried to get the deal you mentioned from their website, but I don't see it. All I see if that when you go to purchase, they'll take $5 off (not $10) if you agree to automatic renewals each year, and then it will be free shipping on all those future purchases at full price (not free shipping now). Could you please tell me where you saw the information you mention, because I like that deal a whole lot more!

Yeah, it looks like that deal I saw was just a "come on". On the first screen, it says "Get $10 off + free shipping if you order now." But when you click on the Buy Now button, it takes you to another screen that says $5 off and free shipping on future orders of automatic renewals. If you contact them and complain, you could probably force them to give you the original deal. It looks suspiciously like deceptive advertising.

Just curious How they make money, just by selling the book or even getting money from the sponsoring company. Anyone know how this works ?