Budget Travel: Hotel deals at Hotwire

by Tom Johansmeyer on

How well do you handle the unknown? If you don’t have the stomach for it, avoid Hotwire. Now, if you don’t mind taking a bit of risk, you can save a fortune by using this website to book your next hotel in the United States (or a limited list of international destinations). I’ve used Hotwire several times, and the vast majority of my experiences have been great. The one that wasn’t (only one) had nothing to do with Hotwire; I was just disappointed with the hotel.

Hotwire is one of the many bargain travel websites that is fighting to carve out some turf on the web. Unlike the others, it delivers some amazing prices. You just don’t know where you’re going to stay until you pay for the rooms. Using Hotwire, you enter the city where you want to stay, proximity to neighborhoods or local attractions and the caliber of hotel you prefer. Star ratings are assigned to each property to help you judge quality, and they are based on Hotwire user feedback. As a reference point, the website does tell you the types of property that are commensurate with a particular rating. So, the process isn’t completely blind, but you still don’t know where you’ll hang your hat.

I used Hotwire three times last year to book hotels in Washington, D.C. I stayed at Capital Hilton, Hilton Washington and the Hotel Helix. My experiences were generally positive with all three.

At the Washington Hilton, I had to walk a lot farther than I expected from the subway station, which is apparently a common problem. The staff at the front desk saw my tired, sweaty face and said, “Yeah, most of the websites make the hotel seem a lot closer.” Immediately after that, he ran to get me some moist paper towels to help me cool off. The hotel itself was excellent, particularly at a discount of more than 70 percent. I also booked the Capital Hilton through Hotwire and had no surprises at all. Again, I saved more than 70 percent and was thrilled.

The Hotel Helix was a bit disappointing. In my opinion, it should have been rated a full star lower than it was, and I left feedback on Hotwire to caution future users. Hotwire itself wasn’t the problem. The rate was fantastic, and I was able to save some money on a trip with little lead time. But, I just didn’t like the hotel. Why do I say this? It happens, and you need to know that flexibility is necessary. Sometimes, you won’t be thrilled with your room. That’s just the risk involved with Hotwire.

Now that you know the good and the bad, let’s talk about money. It’s routine to save more than 50 percent of a hotel’s regular rate using this website (at least in my experience). Hotwire is able to do this by finding the unsold inventory at hotels around the country and bargaining for deep discounts. In the hotel industry, a room-night is a perishable commodity. If you don’t fill Room 437 on March 16, you can’t save it for later. Sometimes, it’s better to get something than nothing. Also, the hotels don’t can avoid implicitly devaluing their rooms through the blind process. This is the service that Hotwire provides to hotels … and to you.

The deals vary. If you are looking for a great room during peak season, you’ll probably be disappointed. But, if you have reasonable expectations, they’ll probably be exceeded. On a recent search, I found hotel rooms for under $150 in downtown Boston for mid-March (at a property given 4 ½ stars). I also found sub-$100 rates in Paris (four stars) and London (four stars, as well) for the same period.

After you book one of these great deals, don’t forget that you have an obligation when you get home. Just as you read the reviews before taking your step into the unknown, many will follow you. Help them out as others helped you. Hotwire will send you an e-mail asking for your feedback on your stay. All you have to do is click the link and complete a brief survey.

Do it.

You can go as long or short as you like, but people will read – and rely on – your review. If you have booked a room using Hotwire, you probably will again, and you’ll read the reviews. So, participate in the process. It’s what you want everyone else to do.

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Ethiopian Airlines Offering Free Tickets to Africa

by Kraig Becker on

Traditionally speaking, flights to Africa can be amongst the most expensive you’ll find, and there are seldom deals to be found when flying there. But right now, Ethiopian Airlines is running a “buy 1, get 1 free” promotion that makes it more affordable than ever to make the trip.

The promotion is good from February 1st through March 31st of this year, with flights to 32 cities available. Simply book a ticket before the 30th of March, and you receive one companion fare for free. The only restriction, other than the dates of the promotion, is that your stay can not be longer than 21 days, and you must travel by the end of March.

The airline offers service to most of the major airports in Africa, including flights to Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. Combining this promotion with some of the other travel deals that are currently available could make for a low cost safari or other vacation to any number of amazing places. Grab your tickets while you can!

[via Intelligent Travel Blog]

10 tips for smarter flying


Luxury hotels in NYC offering a free night stay

by Jamie Rhein on

“Strike when the iron is hot” is a proverb for these times when it comes to taking advantage of a travel bargain. Cruises aren’t the only places to find a deal–even if the deal may start off pricey.

For those heading to New York City before February 28, ten luxury hotels are offering a third night free when you book two nights. This can be a hefty savings of more than $300. Sure, you have to come up with enough money for the two nights, but there are inexpensive things to do the city which can take off the sting off the sticker price.

The participating hotels are:

To take advantage of these deals called “Signature Collection Third Night,” click on this link for the promotional code for the hotel of your choice.

Making a reservation over the phone is recommended. In addition to the third night free, guests who take advantage of the offer, receive other deals at places like Saks Fifth Avenue where you can get a free cup of coffee and a complimentary dessert at the store’s Cafe SFA.

Cruises are big this year: Where to look for deals

by Jamie Rhein on

If the trip bookings at the AAA travel show, Great Vacations Expo this past weekend are any indication of the type of travel many people are looking for, it’s cruises, cruises and more cruises. While there, I ran into Bill Purpera, editor of Home and Away magazine for the Ohio section who filled me in on the statistics when I asked him about the biggest vacation sellers on Saturday.

Given that the temperatures plummeted to well below zero on Friday, enough that Columbus schools were closed, it’s not a surprise that people have a strong hankering to head south.

Carnival Cruise Lines were the strongest seller, followed by Royal Caribbean International, with Holland America and Princess Cruises tied for third place. Along with the pull of southern waters, cruises are the hottest travel deal this year, according to the woman who was representing Royal Caribbean.

She said that people are more likely to take cruises to the Caribbean for the first time, but once they’ve been on a cruise they are hooked and head to other destinations. One cruise that a friend of a friend of mine was most excited about was Uniworld’s cruises on rivers of Europe. As she said, the idea that you don’t have to pack and unpack at each city makes for an appealing travel option. The advantage of this sort of travel is that the sticker price of a trip won’t take you by surprise if you know the price options when you sign up.

When I was telling my father about this being the year for cruises, he reminded me that if you are traveling as a single person, cruises are more expensive. Price structures are generally set up for doubles. As a person who travels alone, my dad misses out on most cruise deals, but they can be found with sleuthing.

If you’re looking for cruise deals, here are four places to look:

CruiseDeals.com –Some cruises are grouped according to Top 3 Cruise Deals and More Great Cruise Deals. If you want to see if a cruise is a travel option you’d enjoy before you book a ticket. You can take a virtual cruise at this site. There are useful tips about travel insurance and passports as well.

Cruises.com–This site offers one-day sales, along with allowing you to search cruise options on a pull-down menu. If you’re interested in a shore excursion, but not a cruise, there are deals on tours. This means if you’re on a trip to Alaska, but not on a cruise you can take advantage of a shore excursion tour.

CruiseBargains.com –An easy to navigate site, there is a list of cruise destinations to give you ideas and a drop down menu. There are also links to pages that offer cruises based on activities and interests such as wine and food cruises; art culture and antiquities; and luxurious spas for mind, body and spirit.

VacationstoGo.com –As a cruise clearing house, this site is one to subscribe to if you’re looking for last minute deals. According to the site you can save up to 75% off. The links along the left side of the homepage allow you to search according to age group–there’s one for 55 and over, plus several other discount options like teacher rates, military etc. Here would be a place for browsing just to see what is available and what fits you. I receive the e-mail newsletter which summarizes deals each week.

2009 the year of the bargain

by Tom Johansmeyer on

We’ve all seen the flurries of deals, either here on Gadling or in our inboxes. There’s no avoiding the fact that airlines and hotels are desperate to get you into seats and rooms this year, and they are ready to make it worth your while. Mid-town Manhattan hotels were offering deals for New Year’s Eve! That shows just how hard up the travel industry is. When you plan your trips this year, be prepared to benefit from the competition for access to your wallet. Understand, however, that deals come in different forms.

The first opportunity is obvious. Look for deep price cuts in an attempt to fill seats or rooms. Last week, for example, several domestic airlines offered fare sales within a few hours of each other, and the others rushed to get in line. JetBlue and AirTrain have one-way tickets to major cities selling at well under $100. Virgin America promoted a $139 transcontinental flight … which can actually be found for $109 on some days. Not to be outdone, the internationals are following. British Airways is now offering business class seats for as little as $2,000, and Open Skies can get you from New York to Amsterdam in premium economy for half that (round trip).

With the hotels, it gets a bit more complicated. Some of the best promotions won’t have big price drops, but they’ll deliver a hell of a lot more value.One of my sources tells me that the super-premium, absurdly luxurious hotels seem to be doing fine. If you don’t have a liquid net worth of above $50 million, this simply does not matter to you. So, don’t even think of living like last year’s hedge fund managers for pennies a night. It isn’t going to happen. Be realistic.

At the other end of the spectrum, bargain hotels are slashing rates and taking advantage of a larger audience, since people who would have spent more in the past are looking down market these days.

In the middle, keep an eye on the merely upscale. They are in a tough spot on room rates. These hotels are generally unwilling to cut their prices significantly, as it would impair their reputations and make it hard to push pricing back up later. But, they realize the conditions in which they have to operate. You can use this to stretch the value of your budget. Look for free nights, perks at the on-site spa (or slopes) or packages that include meals. There are deals to be found, and they can be substantial. You just have to accept that they won’t begin with a huge price cut.

Sometimes, the best deals aren’t the lowest-priced. If you can be flexible with the size of your budget, you may find yourself able to get a lot more for your money than if you spend less. When you think about the total cost of your trip (instead of looking at the room, flight, meals and activities separately), the inclusion of meals and spa treatments, for example, can actually lead to a total savings. Keep an open mind, and you’ll see that some once-in-a-lifetime opportunities could open up for you in this market.

Need more ideas? Check these out.