Favorite and reliable place for hotel deals online?

#1

Freak

VolNation's Grand Poobah
Staff member
Joined
Oct 22, 2003
Messages
95,239
Likes
102,672
#1
I've used hotels.com and priceline.com in the past. Any other suggestions?
 
  • Like
Reactions: tn4elvis
#2
#2
bookit seems to be the cheapest and most consistent for me.
 
#5
#5
I use Orbitz to see which hotel fits my needs for the stay. Then I call the hotel directly and book using my corporate discount. If the don’t Give me their corporate rate I can usually negotiate a deal or different comps over the phone. Most of the time the manager goes above and beyond to help me out.
 
#7
#7
I got worried about these last year after our trip to Texas. There was a couple checking in in front of me who had used one of those, maybe Priceline. The manager was telling him he no no reservations, and the guy had a print off showing he'd paid the site, but the manager wouldn't honor it. He told him he'd have to pay him, and deal with Priceline for the other money. It may be a rare story, and I got checked in before they were finished talking,so I don't know how it ended. I'm sure there's thousands of good stories, I just hadn't used them, and saw that. VRBO is great if you're needing a condo though!
 
#8
#8
I got worried about these last year after our trip to Texas. There was a couple checking in in front of me who had used one of those, maybe Priceline. The manager was telling him he no no reservations, and the guy had a print off showing he'd paid the site, but the manager wouldn't honor it. He told him he'd have to pay him, and deal with Priceline for the other money. It may be a rare story, and I got checked in before they were finished talking,so I don't know how it ended. I'm sure there's thousands of good stories, I just hadn't used them, and saw that. VRBO is great if you're needing a condo though!

I used to love VRBO, and still use them some, but these little fees sites like that are charging now has started to get out of hand. Someone bought them and homekey. Tripadvisor maybe?
 
#9
#9
I used to love VRBO, and still use them some, but these little fees sites like that are charging now has started to get out of hand. Someone bought them and homekey. Tripadvisor maybe?
I didn't know that. It's been 2 years since I've used it. It was pretty good when I did though
 
#11
#11
I used to love VRBO, and still use them some, but these little fees sites like that are charging now has started to get out of hand. Someone bought them and homekey. Tripadvisor maybe?
Last guy we used on VRBO had his own website, so he just had you go there to avoid the fees. Only weird thing was we had to agree to sit on the toilet 20 minutes a day.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolunteerHillbilly
#13
#13
I like airbnb. Rarely use hotels.
Good to help small businesses. I'd use them more but my wife likes to stay places where you can go to the bar in your pajamas and people bring food to your room. Most of my work travel is for conferences where it's just not convenient to stay away from the hosting hotel.
 
#14
#14
Good to help small businesses. I'd use them more but my wife likes to stay places where you can go to the bar in your pajamas and people bring food to your room. Most of my work travel is for conferences where it's just not convenient to stay away from the hosting hotel.
I know it doesn't work for all and it doesn't always work for us, but I prefer the home feel rather than a hotel feel. Plus when traveling with the dog, it's less anxiety than a hotel.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolunteerHillbilly
#15
#15
Yeah. I've found that calling the hotel directly is usually my best bet these days.

This. I just got stranded in Chicago a few weeks ago and needed a hotel. Saw a web advertisement for a hotel near the airport that listed it at $79 a night. Called the hotel and they quoted $89 a night. I informed them the online price was cheaper.

Got the room for $69 a night. Hotels will try to get your business directly instead of going through a third party if they can.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolunteerHillbilly
#16
#16
What I like is I use my capital one card with hotels.com and get like 5x the reward points.
 
#18
#18
I got worried about these last year after our trip to Texas. There was a couple checking in in front of me who had used one of those, maybe Priceline. The manager was telling him he no no reservations, and the guy had a print off showing he'd paid the site, but the manager wouldn't honor it. He told him he'd have to pay him, and deal with Priceline for the other money. It may be a rare story, and I got checked in before they were finished talking,so I don't know how it ended. I'm sure there's thousands of good stories, I just hadn't used them, and saw that. VRBO is great if you're needing a condo though!
Something similar happened to me with Booking dot com. Completely my fault as i booked the wrong weekend. Hotel was gracious and made accommodations. But i gave up trying to recoup my money through the website. On holds, transfers to other departments, and finding people who understood English was difficult. I ended up considering it 'stupid tax' and lesson learned to check my info prior to purchase.

Priceline, hotels dot com and trivago have all been about the same for decent service and ease of use.

Pro tip: i like to search for brand new or recently renovated hotels in the area. New, clean, everything works perfectly and staff hasn't become jaded, yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: joevol33
#19
#19
Never use the third party sites for booking international travel. Had a business partner of mine get screwed. In Europe there is a minimum amount of time required, between connecting flights, for booking them. His connector was 55 minutes. Missed his connecting flight home due to a delay. Because his original flight did not meeting the time frame rules the airline refused to book him another flight. Third party site, who set it up for him, said there was nothing they could do. Cost him $6 grand to get a flight for he and his family back home.
 

VN Store



Back
Top