mrcheaps

[QUOTE=JKFlyer]Has anyone ran into a situation where you've checked the rates and triprewards has the better or same rate, and then later, the same competitor has lowered their price? Just wondering if it's worth checking the same competitor sites later.
QUOTE]


There have been times where due to a "Glich" a price became available, where after weeks the rates were not changed. Sometimes only for a day or two.

Keep looking.

mrcheaps

Found and received another FREE night in "MY Area". For early October. I think that the motel was getting greedy during a high booking time and missed changing another web site - About $20 cheaper $129 vs $109(Expedia this time.)

Keep looking.

Canada1

We have just returned from a two week vacation in California, where we stayed for 13 out of 14 for free....9 of them free nights through Triprewards!
There were absolutely no hassles with any of them. Several check in clerks looked oddly at the $0 rate, and it was obvious they know nothing about the best rate guarantee. In a couple of smaller hotels, the 'owner' was the person checking us in, and he made some comment to the effect 'they fooled up, so they will pay him for it!' indicating that it would not be an expense to the hotel. I am not sure how it works, but it does seem to work!

We needed a roll away bed in every location, and there was only two that actually charged extra for it. None of them charged the tax.

Dioes anyone have any idea how long this deal will last? I am wondering if I need to start booking our vacation for next summer!

glitzy

Great job Canada 1! I'm curious about how you got your other nights free. I wonder if any one has been able to secure free nights with Red Lion or Holiday Inn?

I have a trip planned to the Northwest next month and have 12 free rooms booked. Thanks Mr. Cheaps for letting me know about this! I have had 2 nights in Seattle, 3 in Florida, and 2 in Michigan. I love freebies!!

yevlesh2

I am actually going to try using this guarantee to book a room with Red Lion next week. Will post the results.
I have never heard of Holliday Inn having a similar program. Do you have a link to it?

eastcoastcan

I have been looking for a Saturday night in Niagara Falls any time in the next few months, but haven't come up with anything. If you notice any, let me know.

It probably wouldn't be the easiest place to get a free night at though, I suppose.

CalItalian

Red Lion is owned by WestCoast hotels not Cendant. I don't see where they have a free night guarantee on their website. They just seem to say they guarantee the lowest rate online. Any more details?

JKFlyer

So far, I've found that cities with only one or two Cendent hotels don't have lower prices on other sites (the few that I am limited to for hotels in CAD).


On the hope of good luck and after having already booked all my hotel nights already, I searched again for the few days that i had to pay for. To my surprise, I found a bunch more to submit claims for! I'm thinking maybe some competitor sites reduce prices for last minute dates? Or maybe Triprewards increases prices for last minute dates? Is there a pricing game that hotels play like airlines?

eastcoastcan

I have been finding some particularly great deals through Kayak.com, it searched a lot of consolidators, etc. and the rates coming back are quite a bit below Cendant's rates, so even if no submitting a claim, it seems like a great place to same some $$.

mrcheaps

In talking to a desk clerk/manager, it would appear that this is true to a degree. % full versus # of days until booking.

I have noticed that when a location has some event coming, there are oppurtunities to be seized.

Just in the last few days, I tried to book a night in two weeks. Thought I had it, but the rate was adjusted to match(I did not see it, but when they looked, they saw it. Cancelled and will try again another day)

Again - Keep looking. You never know when the rate will appear.

Canada1

For the person who was asking, the rest of my free nights were with Airmiles, and SPG rewards.

Level 1 Starwood properties can be a great deal at only 2000 points per weekend night.

My experience is that some locations seem impossible to find lower pricing on...and I believe it is true, that it is much harder at Canadian locations, as there are so few sites that price in Canadian $$.

That being said..my stopover night in Toronto was free!

Am now trying to look ahead and book more for upcoming travel...

Canada1

mrcheaps

Just finished another free night(Except for Tax). I asked at the desk upon check out and found out that for this motel, I am the only one ever to invoked the guarantee.

I think that this worked to my advantage, since I have stayed at this motel 16 times and have another 17 to go. If there had been other people trying to use this guarantee, I would not have received as many as I did.

Canada1

I made some more reservations yesterday, for an upcoming trip.
Was able to get mostly free nights...not always in the exact location, but it will do.

Tripadvisor is a very good tool to see if a given hotel is one that you would stay at....even free, sometimes, you would prefer to stay elsewhere.

My experience also, with the ones I have used, it that they do not have many folk like myself using these free night. In fact, the girl on the desk at one hotel had no idea why the night was free...she thought it was a reward night.

And, only one hotel actually charged me the tax, so far.

Canada1

Alpha Golf

I tried to do one yesterday. Verified a lower rate on Orbitz and sent it in. Then received an email saying "While we were able to view the lower rate display, unfortunately that rate was not reservable when we attempted to book the rate. While a rate may be displayed on the website, in many cases such as this the rate has been sold out."

Now Orbitz shows the hotel as "sold out," even though all other sites still show plenty of rooms.

Pretty fishy IMO.

mrcheaps

Orbitz.com and Cheaptickets.com are both Cendant corporations. So is Triprewards.com

I have seen the rate displayed and then followed the links to "Book", have seen the rate change immediately, add on the extra person charge(even though might be searching for 3), seen times like you describe, disappear later, etc.