Another cheap hotel option

Here is a great tip I got from photographer Don Ament at the NAIA forum:

I posted this in another thread, but wanted to put it in it's own thread for people to see it better. Just wanted to mention that I tried a new cheap hotel thing, Travelocity's "Super Secret" hotel program. They work it just like Hotwire, you see the price, the star level, and the general location, but not the name until you do the nonrefundable booking.

In this case I got the Downtown Minneapolis Crown Plaza four star for $49. Way cheaper than what Hotwire was offering. I also had tried Priceline, bidding for a 3.5 star, starting at $39 and going up to $49 using free rebids, but got rejected all the way. Hey, just like art shows.

Checking the regular website after the booking, the room was going for $148 on Thursday and Sunday, and less on Friday-Saturday, maybe $110 or something like that, can't recall.

Not a member of the NAIA? This organization is the only advocacy group for art fair artists. You need to be a member.

I wouldn't use Travelocity for any amount of money. I booked a trip thru them to FL last March for my niece's wedding. The day before we flew out I checked my itinerary again, since they'd made multiple changes to our flights since we'd booked the previous August. I discovered they'd cancelled my husband and my flights home from Jacksonville to Chicago but not my 81 yo Mom's. Long story short, they insisted we couldn't fly home together even though I explained Mom is 81, in a wheelchair, has had multiple strokes & needs an escort. I spend most of the weekend on the phone arguing with people from India. It wasn't until I finally asked them who was going to be changing Mom's diapers that they finally agreed the coordinate a flight for us together. I have since heard many horror stories of people's reservations being cancelled or arriving to find there was never a reservation. Make your reservations directly with the hotel, airline or rental car agency to have a guarantee.

Replies

Jillian Cori Lippert August 26, 2010 at 11:49pm

I wouldn't use Travelocity for any amount of money. I booked a trip thru them to FL last March for my niece's wedding. The day before we flew out I checked my itinerary again, since they'd made multiple changes to our flights since we'd booked the previous August. I discovered they'd cancelled my husband and my flights home from Jacksonville to Chicago but not my 81 yo Mom's. Long story short, they insisted we couldn't fly home together even though I explained Mom is 81, in a wheelchair, has had multiple strokes & needs an escort. I spend most of the weekend on the phone arguing with people from India. It wasn't until I finally asked them who was going to be changing Mom's diapers that they finally agreed the coordinate a flight for us together. I have since heard many horror stories of people's reservations being cancelled or arriving to find there was never a reservation. Make your reservations directly with the hotel, airline or rental car agency to have a guarantee.
Marilyn Robertson August 23, 2010 at 8:45pm

Thanks for the tip.
- Linnea Lahlum > Marilyn Robertson August 24, 2010 at 1:34pm
  
  Anyone have any cheap ideas for REFUNDABLE options? I do Priceline, but there are times when I need to keep my options open.
  
  I have the CheckINN card, but have had problems with that: chiefly not knowing what the price is going to be, far enough in advance. Since they update prices on their website on Sundays, frequently that affects my stay, which is of course, bridging a weekend. I book thinking I am going to get one price, and find afterward that I paid $10 more than I expected, even before the booking fee.

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