Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Lastminutetravel.com Opaque? Not So Much.

Other than snagging two free nights at a St. Louis Clubhouse Inn during their controversial $1 A Night promotion earlier this year (we had a family obligation there, and I felt, correctly, that my chances might be better if I tried for practicality rather than overseas luxury) I don't see any great bargains at LMT versus Priceline. But I think it's a hoot that if you click on "map this hotel" and go to the "birdseye" view, you get a Microsoft Live Search photo of the exact street corner (and can usually read the hotel name on the facade). Plus nine times out of ten, the highly skilled scribes that write the hotel descriptions screw up and include the name of the hotel restaurant or some other instantly-identifiable label.

Oh some of them are even easier... they have the name of the hotel in the "Decription"

Saw one just the other day for a hotel that line two had the NAME of the hotel. No guessing there!

Shh....

The few times I looked their prices weren't much (any?) better then booking a discounted rate on the hotel's own website. Prices were much higher then what I'd expect from either PL or Hotwire.

My guess is the hotels are "Opaque" so the hotel isn't require to include those rates in any "best rate guarantee" promotion.

After some digging …

In one window, open easyclicktravel.com. (non-opaque)
In another, open lastminutetravel.com. (opaque)

As you'll see, the two sites are exactly the same. Same interface, same listings, same birds-eye view, same everything. Except that at lastminutetravel.com, the prices are up to a whole $1 lower -- that's all, folks -- and the hotel name has been replaced by "undercover" in the copy (but not always thanks to their skilled crackerjack editors.) Often the prices are exactly the same to the penny.

Undercover my a*s.

>>Brent

It appears that easyclicktravel.com is much more expensive IMHO.


After some digging …

In one window, open easyclicktravel.com. (non-opaque)
In another, open lastminutetravel.com. (opaque)

As you'll see, the two sites are exactly the same. Same interface, same listings, same birds-eye view, same everything. Except that at lastminutetravel.com, the prices are up to a whole $1 lower -- that's all, folks -- and the hotel name has been replaced by "undercover" in the copy (but not always thanks to their skilled crackerjack editors.) Often the prices are exactly the same to the penny.

Undercover my a*s.

>>Brent

or you can google the # of rooms they give you in the description 9 times outta 10 that works to