On all the sites I have been checking, it seems there are only a couple of different 'search engines' that check rates....it seems the different travel sites have all looped into one of only several different ones, making it easier to have 'universal rates'.

I am not sure if this is the case, it just seems to be my observation.

If I come up with a site that does appear to have an independant search engine for rates, I will post it here.

Thanks

I've been hoping to get a free room in San Diego again for a summer Saturday night. I noticed a Ramada that I was able to get for free for an April date raised their rate for one specific Saturday night to $170. Expedia had it for $109. I told my friends about it as well today and we ended up with 1/2 dozen rooms for free. So I guess some revenue managers don't watch their rates closely enough...or not as closely as I do.

Once we started submitting claims for the guarantee, they started approving them in LESS than 1/2 an hour. That is simply amazing for any kind of customer service these days.

Found a rate on Expedia for a Super 8 for $45.00 and booked it at $50.00 and then filed the claim for 10 nights. I checked about an hour later the rates became unavailable. Within another hour, I started receiving my rejections. They were unable to find, or found and unable to book.

The next time, I think I will only grab 2 or 3 nights and quit.

Booked a nite at an Amerihost in MI for this weekend at $69.00. Available on Expedia for $57.00. Made the booking at 2:30pm. Submitted claim at 2:35pm. Got an email back from claims at 5:30pm with my free nite. Spouse booked 2nd room for kids. Sister-in-law booked a free room.....

Thanx FT....

Mrcheaps, I like your style. I would suggest that with the money you save on hotel bills this year, you buy Mrscheaps a nice diamond bracelet for Christmas.

Thank you. My job is going away in the fall and if I can save some until then-Great. Mrscheaps is a "Show me the money" not "Show me the saved money". I let her bid on things during the PBS television Auction/Fund raiser.
My mistake was to watch it and have her say "Oh, What is this?" She spent in one week what I will save over a month and a half. I did get a nice spring jacket out of it.

UPDATE - Since we last visited our hero, I have booked all the nights I need for free between now and Mid-September - Including an extra night a week so I can work my 4 day week at the beginning or end of the week.

I have this mental image of the CS saying "OH no, not HIM again!'

Thanks for posting those updates...just proves that it is still worthwhile to check....

But, I am seeing that the most likely sites to find cheaper are ones like travelocity and expedia, orbitz, etc.

My friend used a free night that I had helped her find, this past Sat night in Toronto. She said it went no problem...no questions asked, and just the tax was charged.

Booked a Days-Inn room in Wisconsin Dells, WI. at $105.95 for mid-August. Found it advertised on www.sidestep.com for 105.94. Submitted the claim form and got an email back saying my nite was now free . Ouch! that one is going to hurt someone...

I just got done explaining the Guarantee to one of my fellow co-workers. He just booked 5 different free nights for a vacation going to Las Vegas and Los Angeles. He says that now he would like to travel more, because it is fun to get the free nights.

I am not sure how long they will keep their guarantee in place, but until they change it, it is a great way to save money.

I am posting to pass on the above and to also keep this link alive and well.

We actually were lucky enough a few weeks back, to book 13 free nights in California in Aug, both for ourselves, and the other family travelling with us. (What are friends for??)
Now, it seems those locations are much more difficult to find the lower rates for...it seems once they get burned, they tighten up the available rates very quickly.
They are also all franchises, and one hotel owner was so upset when he received notification of our two free night bookings, he called right away, which happenned to be in the middle of the night for us, with the time difference! Not amusing! I am sure he will not be amused either, when we show up, and he has to choice but to award the free night! On the phone call, he was offering to match the lower price we found...so it remains to be seen how he deals with it.
I inquired through the Triprewards Guarantee office, and asked the what if scenario, and they told me if he says you MUST pay, then go ahead and pay, and the submit through head office. They will reimburse, and also charge him a fee.

Canada1

Thanks to you two folks, I was a trip rewards member but it had been a long time since I was their website as I usually don't book with their properties unless I am in a smaller town with no Prioritclub or SPG properties, so I didn't know that they had changed their lowest price policy to a free room, if found elsewhere. Took me about 5 minutes max before I got my first lower price somewhere else, 45 minutes after making the claim, the free room was confirmed. How easy is that !!!

Thanks you two again for the most useful post I ever read on any travel forum.

jocko2

Two nights ago, I stayed at a Wingate Inn. When I arrived, I had two people thank me for helping them find a glich in the computer software. The next day, I talked casually to the manager and found out somethings that I personally found interesting.

It used to be that they had to change the rates at various websites and Triprewards is upgrading their members location by location to allow them to make (1) shop entry and the rates will go to all websites and update.

For me, what happened was I received several nights free, they changed the rates and the next day, they went back to the old rates and I booked somemore. As I understand it now, they have fixed the problem at this location.(and therefore all locations with the new software)

Once more and more locations start to use this software, the fewer discrepancies will be found. Harvest where and while you can.

This said, I will continue to search.

I asked why they have this Guarantee, and it was his opinion that it was to build customer loyalty.

GOOD LUCK to all in the search for "CHEAP"!

This is also one of my favorite programs / threads, to date. Where do you actually get something for nothing, these days??

Not sure how it could work, but maybe we could post locations where there are lower rates to be found?

Mrcheaps, I suspected the software issue as you have stated above, in an earlier post. It seems the searching window is strangely familiar, on many different sites, making me think there are many sites using the same price search engines. That is how they will quickly 'fix' all prices to be the same.

I guess for awhile, it will depend on where you are travelling, as to if you will still be able to find free nights. For now, I am happy with my 11 free nights during my 2 week vacation in Califirnia, in August. (Also have two free nights with SPG, and 2 free nights with Airmiles)

The locations I have Triprewards free nights for are in Anahiem, Monterey, Hollywood, San Diego, San Clemente, and Carlsbad.
Also, have some free stop over nights in Toronto and in Vancouver.
The main sites at which I found lower prices are on arestravel.com , expedia.com , travelocity.com , roomsusa.com , orbitz.com , expedia.ca , and destina.ca .

Do we know which sites do not currently subscribe to the universal booking search engines?

Thanks for all the feedback!

Canada1