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Mon 9 Jul, 2012 11:30 am
So we are homeless for a few days and went to look for a decent, but inexpensive hotel to stay. We try one hotel chain we have frequent stay sort of stuff with. Originally we were supposed to go there for 4 nights. By mistake I put in the Friday for 3 nights, with my discount the price was $100 a night. Ok that should work. When I realized I was supposed to have 4, I re-did the thingy on the internet and price changed to $179/night.
What? So I went back and put in 3 nights, got the $100/night rate and decided we would ask for the extra night later on. I figured they upped the rate as it is near business so starting Tuesday night it goes up. We did find another hotel for $110 a night and thought if they don’t accommodate us for the extra night at the $100, we would just change hotels. So last night on the internet and this morning they still show $179, hubby went to lobby and got the extra night for $100.
Crazy, huh?
@Linkat,
hamburgboy used to do that quite regularly - find out what the best internet rate was - then call the hotel directly and find out if they can match/better the rate.
He got some amazing deals that way - the hotels don't have to pay the discounter that way - they sometimes threw in breakfasts or meal vouchers to get the direct business.
@Linkat,
Hotel room rates are "always" negotiable. It has been said that talking directly to the manager usually results in better than published rates.
Priceline has always produced good rates for me.
@cicerone imposter,
any of the discount websites were more than directly going on their website and selecting AAA discount.
But for some reason (assuming for the business crowd) the rate goes up $79 even with the AAA discount. We figured if they ain't sold out then they'd prefer to keep us another night and get $100 rather than zippo.
@Linkat,
On our way to our first A2K get-together, in Salem Mass, Set and I had an interesting experience.
I'd picked up one of those I-81 hotel coupon books. The front desk of a big chain hotel initially refused to accept the coupon as we hadn't booked ahead. I sat down in their lobby - used their toll-free phone to call and book a room - then stood up - went back to reception, gave them my reservation confirmation # - and negotiated a better deal than I'd got on the phone AND better than the coupon gave.
@ehBeth,
awesome - I did something like that by accident when renting a car. I was going to book a reservation online to rent a car - found all these online code discounts so I got a pretty good deal. Then reading the fine print, I found out there was a possibility that the car rental could be closed when we arrived as our flight was getting in real late and it was a smaller airport.
So I called the phone number to check to see the time the car rental place would close and what happens if it does. The time ended up working out well and the rep (most likely cause they work on commission) gave me an even better price.
@Linkat,
That's true of most consumer goods when you are able to negotiate the price. Asking never hurts, and you may end up with a better price than any "advertised" best price.
@cicerone imposter,
Quote: It has been said that talking directly to the manager usually results in better than published rates.
that's been my experience . find the best rate available - phone the hotel -
and unless they are at capacity , you,ll get a better deal .
i've also found that's is best to wait until the desk is not crowded - they really don't want everyone to hear that you can get a lower rate .
@hamburgboy,
Sometimes it also helps to call during what they call the 'audit shift'. This is the late night shift, and night auditors are often considered knowledgeable enough to know when they can make real discounts to get the occupancy rates where they want it.
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