Originally Posted by
NJFlyer42
It _might_ work to open a separate savings account for these charges and transfer money as you make reservations. That gets the money out of your family account and it won't be accidentally spent. You also get to keep control of the money in case there is an issue with the room, etc.
BTW. I now book at the hotel sites such as ihg.com since several hotels have me crap rooms since I used other web sites like hotels.com.
+1 to both of those. I'd probably just earmark the money for the hotel, but I'd maintain control of it if the entire vacation gets canceled due to weather or any number of other reasons. Even though the "6PM cancel" is now mostly a thing of the past, you'd likely still have the flexibility to cancel the day before the trip with most normal hotel direct-booked rates at most normal properties. (Read fine print if it's a "resort-y" kind of place...there are occasionally 72 hour cancel rates and 1-week cancel rates, but still...it's better than a prepay.)
And if I book a third-party site, it's because the deal was so awesome that I completely expect the "Priceline Room" (the one next to the elevator and the ice machine) and I'm still okay with it.
