Over the past year or so, I’ve become a big fan of Hotels.com.

I’ve tried most of the major travel booking sites — Expedia, Orbitz, Skoosh, Travelocity, Kayak, etc. And each one has their advantages. I particularly like Kayak.com, an aggregate travel search engine. They search multiple other sites for deals and display the results for you to compare.  I’ll write a separate post about them soon.)

Stand out features for Hotels.com include:

• Awesome customer service. With real live people.

  (Remember customer service?)

  I’ve had to call hotels.com several times for customer service — usually involving a change in my plans. Each time my call was answered promptly, the representative was courteous and knowledgeable, and my problem was resolved.

• Risk-free bookings. Hotels.com never charges a change or cancellation fee, so many* bookings are fully refundable.

  (*Note: However, an individual hotel listed on Hotels.com might offer special non-refundable rates, or have a change or cancellation policy they impose and require hotels.com to pass on. The hotels.com website makes that very clear and easy to see under “view cancellation policy.”)

  I can vouch for this — I actually did have to change my plans twice, and my refund was taken care of promptly.

• Welcomerewards: One free night (up to $400 rate!) at any partner hotel for every 10 nights you book with hotels.com. No blackout dates. No restrictions.
  

  I’m up to eight nights — can’t wait to book two more nights and try this out!

• Price Match Guarantee.

  After booking, if you find a lower rate, Hotels.com will match the price and refund the difference. And they’ll do it right up to the property’s cancellation deadline.

A lot of vendors are offering something like this now, it’s great for peace of mind. No need to worry about missing out on a better deal after you book.

By the way … in case you’re wondering,  I am not a hotels.com affiliate or anything!

(Although I might look into it.)  I’ve just had great luck with them, and wanted to pass that along to you.

Have you used Hotels.com? Or got your own favorite hotel booking sites? Please share! Leave a comment in the box below.

Carol

Filed under: Budget Accommodations, Budget Travel, General, Hotels, Travel Booking Sites | No Comments »

Now’s the time to book a getaway  …

Seems like every time I check my inbox or open the newspaper, there’s more news of airfare sales and hotels discounts. Just today, the business section of my local paper reported that airlines have slashed ticket prices to their lowest levels in years.

The article quoted one of my Favorite Links, Rick Seaney of FareCompare.com: “The prices that they’re offering right now are meant to get people off their couches and onto their computers.”

And with occupancy rates plummeting, hotels are offering great deals too. In addition to lower room rates, you’ll find they are offering valuable “extras” like food and drink credits, free breakfast, free internet, and lots of “third night free” deals.

Looks like many of these discounted fares and rates are extending into spring and summer — so if you can possibly manage a getaway, now’s the time to go hunting for deals!

Here’s hoping you can Go … Have Fun!

Carol

Filed under: Air Travel, Budget Accommodations, Budget Travel, General | No Comments »

A terrific insider tip on the best days to shop for airfare deals showed up in my inbox today, courtesy of the FareCompare.com weekly newsletter.

(FareCompare, created by Rick Seany, is one of my very favorite resources for insider air travel info.)

Based on years of tracking airfare changes and looking for patterns, Rick says the best time to shop online for airfare is:

Mondays 3 pm EDT and continuing through Wednesday.

That’s the period when airlines tend to file and match sale fares. Then apparently the sales end on Fridays, plus the airlines often hike the fare on Thursday afternoons — so weekends will usually be a bad time to shop!

You’ll definitely want to check out both FareCompare.com and Rick’s blog, RickSeany.com, for a wealth of more insider info and deals.

And let me know if this airfare shopping tip seems to work for you! Use the comment box below.

Carol

Filed under: Air Travel, Budget Travel, Deals, General | 1 Comment »

$20 for first checked bag, or free? Priority seat selection? $5, $20, $109, or free? Oversize bag? Meal charges? Beverage charges? And on and on …

The dizzying array of extra airline fees keeps growing and changing by the hour, it seems! Let me share a handy tool that just showed up in my inbox:

Airfare expert Rick Seany, one of the founders and CEO of FareCompare.com (an essential airfare comparison tool, check it out), recently posted a handy U.S. Domestic Airline Fee chart on his blog, RickSeany.com.

Rick compiles the fees charged by all the domestic carriers and displays them in one easy-to-read chart, updated frequently. Take a look at the chart, and while you’re there, browse thru Rick’s blog, and check out FareCompare, one of my favorite sites for at-a-glance airfare comparison, discount first-class tickets, and valuable insider travel tips.

And sign up for Rick’s newsletter, full of airline travel tips and insider info — it’s one of the few newsletters I actually read!

Filed under: Air Travel, Budget Travel, General, Travel Tips | No Comments »

Just a quick note to share a recent NY Times Frugal Traveler article Sampling the Best of the Northwest’s Bounty (November 25, 2007). Author Matt Gross recounts his affordable weekend in Seattle, spending a total of $392.39 for accommodations, food and drink, taxi and bus fare. Matt says “The secret of a weekend on a budget: happy hour.”

Click on the link above to read the full article, including all the info on where Matt stayed, ate, drank, had fun, and shopped (he’s a guy, so only mentioned one store — the “garage” for discounted outdoor gear at REI’s flagship store).

Filed under: Budget Travel, Seattle | No Comments »

The November 2007 issue of Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel highlighted five reasonably-priced hotels in San Francisco: Hotel Tomo, Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Hotel Beresford, Orchard Garden Hotel, and Galleria Park Hotel. Rates range from $89 to $189. (You can find a link to the Budget Travel article by clicking here.)

Before sharing them here with you, I thought I should did a little deeper. So I checked out the traveler’s reviews for each hotel on TripAdvisor and Expedia. Here’s what I found out:

BEST BETS
Of the five budget hotels mentioned in the article, Orchard Garden Hotel and Hotel Tomo (now Best Western Hotel Tomo) garnered the most consistently positive reviews.

Orchard Garden Hotel is a new, eco-friendly 86-room boutique hotel right next to Chinatown, near Union Square and the Financial District. It’s actually the second most popular SF hotel rated in TripAdivsor.

Best Western Hotel Tomo is a 125-room boutique hotel in Japantown (close to the Fillmore Street chic boutique shopping area) with a fun Japanese pop-culture vibe. Reviewers noted that it’s much nicer than you might expect from the Best Western brand.

LOOKS PRETTY GOOD
Reviews were mixed — but mostly positive — for the Galleria Park Hotel, an Art Nouveau property conveniently located in the Financial District/Union Square. This historic 177 room hotel has been fully restored and all rooms recently renovated.

A BIT MORE IFFY
Hotel Beresford and Sir Francis Drake Hotel both got decidedly mixed reviews.
Sir Francis Drake Hotel is an historic hotel in Union Square. While many reviewers were delighted with it’s charm, location, and cleanliness, quite a few others complained of tiny rooms, noise, and poor service. (To the Drake’s credit, the manager David Watkins reads and responds to most reviews.)
As for the Hotel Beresford, my biggest concern is it’s location right next to the seedy Tenderloin district. Many reviewers were uncomfortable with the numbers of homeless people near the hotel. On the other hand, many others were pleased with the location, cleanliness, and especially the price (the Beresford is the cheapest of the five hotels).

I can’t wait to get out to San Francisco to do my own research!
In the meantime, please feel free to share your favorite San Francisco accommodations — budget, mid-level, or luxury. Just type your comments in the box below (comments get sent to me and I review them before posting) or email me at carol@lipstickgetaways.com.

Filed under: Budget Accommodations, Budget Travel, General, San Francisco | No Comments »