Beating the system - travel question

It seams crazy that you can add a leg and the price goes down, but there's probably more competition on their flights to Indianapolis than there is to St. Louis, so they can charge more for the St. Louis flight even though their costs are lower.

Prices are determined by the competition and supply & demand, not the cost to the airline.

 

Rental car companies have cut back on their fleets these days, and raised their prices accordingly. So, buyer beware.

 

Yes and no on the rental cars.

Go to enterprise.com and - for a great deal - rent on a Saturday with a Monday return. $14.25 a day for a compact, unlimited miles with SIRIUS. About $34 after state/city taxes here.

I have reservations with them for 4 of the next 6 weekends -- each weekend with at least 500 miles round trip. Once I saw the rate, I just started booking up my travel plans.

Sadly, the days of 'Gaming the System' ended with 9/11. That is how those damn terrorists directly affected me. Used to get First-Class upgrades for free, just by being nice to the counter people. Hopped early flights with no troubles. Best of all -- could by cheap flights on the day before Thanksgiving at Minneapolis with NO intent of ever getting on the plane. ("We are taking volunteers and will give you $500 in cash PLUS two round-trip tickets in the 48 states!").

Ah..glory days.

 

We could get back to the glory days if people were paying what it cost to fly. 79 dollar tickets to NY? Unfuckingbelieveable. And the difference with the stop may be competition but its probably rate structure to stl

 

HC & I have used Hotwire several times with terrific success.

Just got back from Ottawa where we had a room at the Westin (practically across the street from the Parliament buildings) for $90.00 a night.

Couple of years ago we got a room at the Intercontinental in Boston, about a five minute walk from the Commons for $125.00 a night---would normally be probably $300.00 or so.

Did the same thing with the Intercontinental when we had a "mini-vacation" here in Toronto

Great for car rentals as well because Hotwire is partnered with a company for insurance. You don't pay the outrageous $25.00 or so a day the car rental companies charge.

 

I got a room at Club Quarters near Wall Street for spnited's birthday bash for I think $80. Maybe less. Can't remember. But it was a Friday night.

 

Never have had a bad experience with Priceline. Booked rooms in downtown Toronto, New Orleans, Washington (Georgetown area), Cleveland and always got a great deal. Just pick out the area you want, go with a three- or four-star hotel and then submit a low bid. They'll tell you it's too low but don't believe them. You can always bid higher or tweak your bid like from a four-star to three-star, etc.

 

That's happened to me before...

 

Fine, I'll ask: Can I still get my Marriott points?

 

Some Guy:

No points on Hotwire or Priceline stays.

I know, it's a bummer.

 

Not interested.

 

They also don't have to honor your status, though I've had Starwood properties upgrade me even while on a priceline stay on a couple of occasions.

And why do you guys like Marriotts so much? I used to be top tier at Starwood, Hilton, and Marriott (comped).

I liked Starwood for the no blackout days and no capacity controls. I stayed in some incredible hotels in Europe using points & usually got a suite.

If you're top tier in Hilton, they also have no capacity controls.

I don't travel much now, but you also used to be able to sign up for promos that you weren't targeted for with Hilton & earn tons of extra points.

People would post the promo codes on Flyertalk.com and you just had to call up to get registered. Not sure if they still allow that.

I hardly ever stayed at Marriotts.