nphx
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- May 31, 2007
- Messages
- 345
Ditto except i book rental cars on southwest airlines site - even at airports they do not fly to. Often the discount and re-book simplicity (if price goes down) make it nice.
What website do you use to book travel?
- Thread starter 97guns
- Start date
Ditto except i book rental cars on southwest airlines site - even at airports they do not fly to. Often the discount and re-book simplicity (if price goes down) make it nice.
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Costco gives me a discount, covers second driver free, and I track the price and rebook when it drops all the time.
brett
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2010
- Messages
- 5,925
Too many to list. We always try to book direct except for cruises where booking direct typically costs more.
We often book on in country sites rather than the likes of expedia etc. We sometimes find that there are price discrepancies between in country sites and North American sites. We have done this for air, cruises, hotels, packages, etc. We have booked vacations in Greece with a UK travel agent, South African safari and tours via skype and email directly with a South African tour company. Savings can be substantial over what some North American sites or TA's charge. Booking direct with the Aerolineas call center in Buenos Aires (they speak English) saved us 30 percent on our in country fares.
For car rentals it is usually autoreurope, costco, or my former employers retiree corporate rate (best for short rentals in during holiday periods).
We have used Priceline hotel bidding, Hotwire, and Late Rooms for hotels with great success. We have had some very attractive hotel rates by booking on the Marriott, Accor, and Hilton sites. Best offers are typically 2-3 nights in a 4 or 5 star, paid in advance, breakfast inciuded, non refundable. Also had very good rates doing this with 3 star Accor Ibis reservations. It is not unusual for us to shop on Booking.com and then contact the hotel, etc. directly. Often the price is the same but the terms or the room is better, or breakfast is included.
For air we often check pricing/routing on matrixit. After that you need to shop around because we have found that the fare codes/prices/itineraries may not be available on all sites at the prices listed on matrixit. On one trip we tried direct with the airline and several other sites with no success. Finally, after numerous tries we found it on Oribitz...same routes, same price, same price code. The airline did have it, but their price was 50 percent more. Fare codes, routes, and date was identical.
We often book on in country sites rather than the likes of expedia etc. We sometimes find that there are price discrepancies between in country sites and North American sites. We have done this for air, cruises, hotels, packages, etc. We have booked vacations in Greece with a UK travel agent, South African safari and tours via skype and email directly with a South African tour company. Savings can be substantial over what some North American sites or TA's charge. Booking direct with the Aerolineas call center in Buenos Aires (they speak English) saved us 30 percent on our in country fares.
For car rentals it is usually autoreurope, costco, or my former employers retiree corporate rate (best for short rentals in during holiday periods).
We have used Priceline hotel bidding, Hotwire, and Late Rooms for hotels with great success. We have had some very attractive hotel rates by booking on the Marriott, Accor, and Hilton sites. Best offers are typically 2-3 nights in a 4 or 5 star, paid in advance, breakfast inciuded, non refundable. Also had very good rates doing this with 3 star Accor Ibis reservations. It is not unusual for us to shop on Booking.com and then contact the hotel, etc. directly. Often the price is the same but the terms or the room is better, or breakfast is included.
For air we often check pricing/routing on matrixit. After that you need to shop around because we have found that the fare codes/prices/itineraries may not be available on all sites at the prices listed on matrixit. On one trip we tried direct with the airline and several other sites with no success. Finally, after numerous tries we found it on Oribitz...same routes, same price, same price code. The airline did have it, but their price was 50 percent more. Fare codes, routes, and date was identical.
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The Cosmic Avenger
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Google Flights is amazing if you're trying to find the best airfare. I love the graph and the dates grid. It shows you that sometimes you can save (or waste) hundreds of dollars by leaving or returning one day earlier or later!
Sometimes I book hotels through Booking.com or Tripadvisor, but I always check the hotel website first to see if there's a difference. I've heard too many horror stories about people booking through the other aggregators (mostly Orbitz & Priceline) and then when they travel, the hotel or airline has no record of any reservation or ticket.
Sometimes I book hotels through Booking.com or Tripadvisor, but I always check the hotel website first to see if there's a difference. I've heard too many horror stories about people booking through the other aggregators (mostly Orbitz & Priceline) and then when they travel, the hotel or airline has no record of any reservation or ticket.
kcowan
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Yes I wondered how trivago can justify all their advertising when I discover no one using them.
I used them once last year to book a last minute hotel deal in Kansas City for the solar eclipse. They were the only site showing availability at a hotel in the area we wanted to stay. I don't remember all the details but it was very sketchy. It was booked through some other website based in Switzerland (Anoma.com ?). I got no confirmation or invoice, just a poorly-worded email (machine translated I think) with a goofy-looking prepaid voucher and a foreign phone number to call if any questions. I called the hotel in Kansas City and they had no record of the reservation but said it might take 24 hours. I called back the next day and all was good. I remember thinking to myself how unprofessional the whole thing was given the seemingly legitimate advertising. Don't think I'll use them again.
