using booking sites like expedia?

[ashpinoza]

do you use them or do you book on private sites for air and car, hotel, ect? i always use expedia, sometimes priceline, ect. to research the places and prices but have never booked using a booking site, and am a bit nervouse too. i dont know why, i know millions of people use them, i just dont personally KNOW OF anyone who has. do any of you use it? do you like it and which one do you use? thanks

 

[LavenderPeach]

I'll make this bold for you since I read on another thread that it was easier for you to read.

I used hotwire one time. It's a little more risky because you don't see which hotel you get before you agree to go there but you get a better price that way. Same with bidding on priceline. But there is a site I think called betterbidding.com that is very helpful. They have a list of hotels people have won on both priceline and hotwire. For hotwire you can compare the ammenities of the hotels people won to the ammenities listed on hotwire and you can get a pretty good idea of which hotel you will get. So even though I didn't know for sure which hotel I was getting, I was 99% sure. Hope that made sense. Betterbidding.com is actually a message board so you can probably get some good tips on there. I don't know about expedia or the other sites.

 

[ashpinoza]

I'll make this bold for you since I read on another thread that it was easier for you to read.

I used hotwire one time. It's a little more risky because you don't see which hotel you get before you agree to go there but you get a better price that way. Same with bidding on priceline. But there is a site I think called betterbidding.com that is very helpful. They have a list of hotels people have won on both priceline and hotwire. For hotwire you can compare the ammenities of the hotels people won to the ammenities listed on hotwire and you can get a pretty good idea of which hotel you will get. So even though I didn't know for sure which hotel I was getting, I was 99% sure. Hope that made sense. Betterbidding.com is actually a message board so you can probably get some good tips on there. I don't know about expedia or the other sites.

thanks so much and thanks for the bold too, it DOES help alot lol no straining. that does give me some info. i was curious about cars on hotwire but it wouldnt let me do a one way rental but i was looking into the airfare on hotwire. and thanks for the link to the message board, ill check it out and see what tips i can pick up on there

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Hi! Bold you for! I always use hotels.com. I found that they tend to have the cheapest rates. If I don't use them, I just book through the hotel directly (if it's cheaper). Hotels.com also has a thing where if you book 10 nights (doesn't have to be in a row) you get 1 free night. They also send emails with coupon codes and such. I had used one for $50 off my next stay.

I like hotwire, they also have pretty cheap rates. But everytime I book a 3 star or 3 1/2 star hotel, it has a mandatory parking/resort fee (of like $10 or so), so there goes the money I thought I was saving.

 

[bumbershoot]

Bold for you, just like the others are doing!


I used hotwire for a one night hotel stay, and I used it for a car rental. We didn't do a one way rental though, we got it from and returned it to LAX. We got a rate we were happy with with the car, and a rate at the hotel that was decent. We had Motel6 booked, through hotels.com, for somewhere between 50 and 60 bucks, and got the Hilton (through hotwire) for just over the rate at Motel6. Alas, Hilton does have a hefty parking fee, but it was still nice to stay at the Hilton instead of Motel6.

I absolutely urge you to study betterbidding.com! Awesome site. But you want to delve deep into it, make it your job for the next week to study it. It can help you figure out, to a good extent, what hotel you might be about to get, from the description/amenities/location. That can help b/c you can go to the hotels' sites (from the ones you think it might be...for instance, I knew the hotel I was about to get was either the Hyatt or Hilton) and find out about resort/parking fees ahead of time, instead of being surprised later on.

Now...airfare...there's not much benefit in booking that through those sites.

Oh, I wanted to mention that I also have used Expedia and Orbitz...

Anyway, they generally have the same rate as the airlines do directly. Right now most of them are dropping their booking fees, at least on some flights. If the rates on the site and the airline sites are the same, be SURE you're not going to be charged a booking fee, b/c then you're paying more for the same product, and really it's not even the same, because now you have a travel agent to contact instead of contacting the airline directly!

On our last trip, hubby and son had Alaska credit, so I booked their flights directly through Alaska's site. I had no credit, there were no booking fees, the prices were the same, and I could get credit through a rewards site I do, so I booked with travelocity (I think). If there had been a booking fee, I would not have done that, b/c booking fees bug me.

I used Orbitz for a hotel stay once, and didn't realize there was a booking fee until it was too late. They made the cancellation time further out than the hotel itself, so when the HoJo Entertainment Book rate came out, I coudln't cancel the Carousel (it was only a one night stay, so being charged one night for canceling too late would have been silly). Disappointing.


Just take the time to really study the sites, see what you're getting. Get the cancel policies, get the phone numbers, etc etc, and book with knowledge!

 

[ashpinoza]

Bold for you, just like the others are doing!


I used hotwire for a one night hotel stay, and I used it for a car rental. We didn't do a one way rental though, we got it from and returned it to LAX. We got a rate we were happy with with the car, and a rate at the hotel that was decent. We had Motel6 booked, through hotels.com, for somewhere between 50 and 60 bucks, and got the Hilton (through hotwire) for just over the rate at Motel6. Alas, Hilton does have a hefty parking fee, but it was still nice to stay at the Hilton instead of Motel6.

I absolutely urge you to study betterbidding.com! Awesome site. But you want to delve deep into it, make it your job for the next week to study it. It can help you figure out, to a good extent, what hotel you might be about to get, from the description/amenities/location. That can help b/c you can go to the hotels' sites (from the ones you think it might be...for instance, I knew the hotel I was about to get was either the Hyatt or Hilton) and find out about resort/parking fees ahead of time, instead of being surprised later on.

Now...airfare...there's not much benefit in booking that through those sites.

Oh, I wanted to mention that I also have used Expedia and Orbitz...

Anyway, they generally have the same rate as the airlines do directly. Right now most of them are dropping their booking fees, at least on some flights. If the rates on the site and the airline sites are the same, be SURE you're not going to be charged a booking fee, b/c then you're paying more for the same product, and really it's not even the same, because now you have a travel agent to contact instead of contacting the airline directly!

On our last trip, hubby and son had Alaska credit, so I booked their flights directly through Alaska's site. I had no credit, there were no booking fees, the prices were the same, and I could get credit through a rewards site I do, so I booked with travelocity (I think). If there had been a booking fee, I would not have done that, b/c booking fees bug me.

I used Orbitz for a hotel stay once, and didn't realize there was a booking fee until it was too late. They made the cancellation time further out than the hotel itself, so when the HoJo Entertainment Book rate came out, I coudln't cancel the Carousel (it was only a one night stay, so being charged one night for canceling too late would have been silly). Disappointing.


Just take the time to really study the sites, see what you're getting. Get the cancel policies, get the phone numbers, etc etc, and book with knowledge!

ive noticed that with the airlines being the same. and we dd decide on hojos with the ET rate. i think i will probably just book through the airline directly, it doesnt sound fun have to deal with the traveling company rather than airline directly, if i had too. i am going to be looking at that site ALOT tonight after kiddo goes to sleep. see if i can get anything good on the car. i think though after hearing some comments i am going to be just booking out of the sites and with the companies themselves. i think i can get a cheaper rate with my USAA discount on cars then i could using the bidding companies, so im gonna check it out. thanks so muh to everyone for the advice

 

[MommyLove]

I've used Priceline Name Your Own Price a few times now. I actually did it again for this trip because dh wanted to leave a couple days early (yay!) and HoJo was booked (bummer). We ended up at the Anaheim Marriott (the one on Convention Way) for $45/night. However there IS a $20/day parking fee, so that's something you have to keep in mind when bidding for hotels in some areas. All in all, $65/night isn't a bad price at all for a hotel that usually charges 2-3 times that.

I recommend checking out biddingfortravel.com for tips on using Hotwire and Priceline (for hotels, car, air, etc). If you're willing to invest the time to research the info, you can save a bunch of money!

 

[Brady's Mom]

If you want to be able to read discussion boards and email and stuff better you can press ctrl (control) and the plus (+) sign and make it as big as you want. That way you can avoid eye strain with the little size font and see it much easier. Just press ctrl and the - sign if you want to make it smaller. It works great when DH and I want to read an email or whatever at the same time and he needs bigger fonts. Hope that Helps!

 

[toby78]

do you use them or do you book on private sites for air and car, hotel, ect? i always use expedia, sometimes priceline, ect. to research the places and prices but have never booked using a booking site, and am a bit nervouse too. i dont know why, i know millions of people use them, i just dont personally KNOW OF anyone who has. do any of you use it? do you like it and which one do you use? thanks

Well for hotels i always call direct to the hotel and they always give better deals than the middlemen...I always check prices on those sites like expedia and others first to compare, but the hotel can give you better deals than anyone else, at least it has always been like that for us...

 

[karylrocks]

I have sometimes gotten really good deals with Orbitz. They often have hotel sales - this time I got the Anabella for half price ($65 for a King/Double). I had been planning on HOJO but DH decided to attend a convention so I was really happy to find this deal for a hotel right next to the convention center. They also have the best prices I have found for air/hotel packages. We got a great deal on air/hotel/car for Phoenix next weekend. If I am just booking airfare I always book directly with the airline. I have used Travelocity, Expedia, and Hotels.com with no problems.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I used Travelocity for DLR trip last summer. We booked Holiday Inn Express a few weeks before our trip. No problems there at all. For this summer's trip I booked directly with Embassy Suites South and used my AAA card number to get a discount. That was the cheapestest deal I could find for this place and was better than the travel sites. I also use Trip Advisor to read more reviews of places.

 

[LuLusApple]

If I don't get a great AP or entertainment rate I use hotels.com or AAA. I got a great rate at portofino 65$ a night, stovalls inn 60$ a night and no fees or parking
other than all that I peruse the hotels websites and sometimes they have online specials of their own. I try not to spend over 320$ for 4 nights plus tax more $ for DL!!

 

[Casken]

Always ensure you check out the company's cancellation policy. Some of these sites may save you a lot of $$$ but their cancellation policy may not be so great. You never know what can happen with life and that trip may have to be postponed. So, read the fine print.