S

I've checked out Expedia.com already. We want to go out of town the first weekend of January 2003. What are my other options?

x

Biddingfortravel.com

awatt

I used travelocity and picked one of their "good Buy" hotels. You have to prepay but can cancel up to 24 hours prior,I believe. Got a $300 room for 109/night this way

Jen

Depends on your definition of "best."

The best average prices, especially for last-minute plans, are found on Priceline, which has a best-rate guarantee. But as you know PLine has its disadvantages -- mostly that you don't know hte specific hotel before you bid, and there are no refunds. You can learn a lot more about it, including which hotels people have won lately, at www.biddingfortravel.com. (Contrary to what an earlier poster implied, you cannot get hotel bookings there, just info.)

??

Whats with the plethora of these posts recently? There must have been 10 similar in the past couple of days. Just coincidence and everyone lives in a cave or is Priceline that hard up for business they are out beating the bushes? And isn't it Hotwire with the best rate guarantee? Priceline guarantees nothing, including which hotel you'll end up in.

Liz

I used biddingfortravel.com to find out how to bid on Priceline for a pre-cruise hotel in Ft. Lauderdale for this April. I got a steal on the Marriott Harbor Beach, and will definitely use Priceline again.

x

I have found Hotwire to be more than the actual hotel sites and sometimes I have actually found deals on expedia. As for going out of town at the last minute check lastminutevacations.com or 11th hour travel.

Andrew

Priceline has some sort of "rate guarantee" but I've never needed to use it. I usually check Hotwire rates before a Priceline hotel bid, but so far, accepted bids on Priceline have always been lower than Hotwire's best offers. If Hotwire is cheaper I'll use Hotwire - used them only once to guarantee the same hotel I got with earlier Priceline bids - but Hotwire was about $20/night more.

My strategy: book a hotel you can cancel with no penalty, then closer to your travel dates (when your plans are more firm), use Priceline (BiddingForTravel.com for Priceline info) to try for a cheap room. Or Hotwire if they are cheaper. You can often get great deals on Priceline even 24 hours before check-in.

Andrew

Mr Cheapo

Of course, Hotels.com!

zzz

Quikbook.com is by far the best discount hotel booking service.