Using Hotel Discount Websites
 

For those of you who have experience with hotel discount websites, e.g., Priceline, Expedia, Orbitz, Hotel Discounts, et al, I have a quick question.

I'm planning a trip for about 4 months from now and have been discouraged thus far, by both the prices and availability of motel rooms in the area I'm visiting.

My question is "Will the prices be likely to come down and the availability increase as we get closer to the date of my vacation?"

I'm guessing that as we get closer to that time the hotels will have a more accurate picture of what they may have to offer then. If so, how close in time should I expect to get to the date of my stay, without beginning to experience diminishing results from waiting.

Thank you for whatever you may be able to tell me.

swoops

Family and I just stayed a few nights in Chicago's Homewood Suites. I made reservations through Orbitz a month ago and got a $135 suite for $99. I planned the trip for this time as I knew rooms would be discounted just before Xmas.

I made sure when I made the reservation that it could be cancelled up to 6 p.m. of the day of arrival. I checked a few times before the trip to see if the price had gone down.

I liked Orbitz because they had a very responsive web page with my reservation in a special "My Stuff" file and they also could be contacted easily by phone.

It would help a lot if you would tell us exactly where you are going and when.

Example: If you are going to Disney for President's Week, you will not find discounts as it is one of the busiest weeks of the year for them. Ditto with skiing for Easter or South Florida Febuary through April.

Following my reasoning? It may not have anything to do with the websites but the time and place of your visit.

So where are you going and when?

In general, the best deals on PL appear just a couple of weeks before the bookings -- as you said, they're offering rooms that the hotels expect that otherwise they'd be stuck with. On the other hand, at very busy times, discount bookings are unavailable -- if you're looking for a Priceline room for NYC in December, you'd have to look months in advance.

There's a lot of expertise on these boards -- we could be far more helpful if you would give specifics about location and dates. "Four months from now" is prime Spring Break season in some places, dead slow in others.

Thank you all for your reponses.

GoTravel and Anonymous, yes I do see how the specific date and city would make a difference.

My plans are to visit New Orleans in April. I have not fixed an exact date yet as I'm still trying to determine when I'll able to find the best prices/choices. I would also consider going in March if I could get better prices then but thus far, that does not appear to be the case.

I thought this would be a good time to visit New Orleans as Mardi Gras will have ended and the city may be "resting up a bit" before the next major festival. I know that this is Spring Break time for many and while New Orleans is a world-class vacation destination, there are many other places more frequently associated with Spring Break.

So, I hope the info above helps flesh out my plans a bit. Thank you again for anything you can tell me.

swoops

You have received some good advice. I am assuming you know that Priceline works very differently than the other sites - on the other sites you get to know what you are buying ahead of time, Priceline you do not.

Also, check cancellation policy carefully. One site (Expedia, I think) now has a $20 charge if you cancel, no matter how far in advance you cancel. That could add to cost of booking and then continuing to shop.

After the first of the year I recall seeing hotel chain ads in major regional papers in past years - so you might want to wait a week.

That said, while there are deals everywhere, New Orleans is not cheap - unless you stay in a really seedy area. So be careful.

March and April are huge citywide convention times for New Orleans. You will not see any good rates until groups start dropping room blocks around 30-45 days before they arrive. Very busy time for New Orleans. Also, the week before and the week after Easter are busy family times.

My suggestion, book a cancelable backup and then start stalking the discount websites. Also start reading BiddingForTravel.com very often. I think you will end up with a very good deal from priceline even though it is a high demand time period.

Right now, you will probably see the best prices starting the day after Ash Wednesday and through that week.

GoTravel is absolutely right. We make plans close to a year in advance for the rooms we want in New Orleans and I do "homework" all year long checking for discounts. Typically I can get our Bourbon Street room down half price by the time we finally hit the city. Check the hotel national reservation numbers and ask for criteria on all rates - you'd be surprised what you may be eligible for.

Thank you all for some great info!

I never knew there were so many effective ways to shop for hotel discounts!

Thanks again!

swoops

When we got to the Polnesian they said they were overbooked, and sent us to the completely awful Contemporary. My impression is we were the ones who were bumped because we booked through Expedia, not Disney's own cultish booking service.

Bottom line, IMO, is stay off site and <b>not at the Disney resorts</b> and use cabs. even the vaunted monorail service is <b>much</b> less impresive than you are lead to believe.

As others have said, waiting can pay off, or it can hose you. Either the hotel will have lots of empty rooms and you'll be able to scarf a bargain, or it will project that it can fill, and rates will go up.

One thing I'd suggest if you're using Priceline or Hotwire: check out some of the sites (like www.betterbidding.com) that tell you about buying strategies and that identify the hotels that people are getting these days and at what bid prices.

*DO* check out a few individual hotel chain web sites too, because some of them consistently undercut the &quot;discount&quot; web sites. (Look for those that have a &quot;low price guarantee&quot; -- hyatt.com is one of these.)

Happy hotel hunting!
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

This may be a bit different but I've heard of others booking rooms through Travelocity for example. They prepay for the room as that's the requirement and when they try to check-in they're denied the reservation even though they show the clerk the confirmation printout. The clerk claimed that the reservation didn't appear in their system.
Does this occur alot or the hotels giving priority to other guests?

For francophile03: I've only used Travelocity a few times, but have used Hotel Discounts, Priceline, and especially Hotwire many, many times - all without incident. Though, I ALWAYS phone the hotel directly to verify the reservation.

That is good advice, djkbooks.