Hotels FAQ

Question:

Anyone heading to the US, check out www.Priceline.com for airline tix and hotel stays etc. When I was heading back to Oz from Vermont, I needed a place to stay overnight in LA. Private rooms in the Hostels near the airport ran at about 30 bucks, so I tried it. Basically, you punch in your requirement: the dates, area, level of accommodation, and you put in your price. I put in 35 bucks. I’d researched the LAX area, and the hotels all seemed to start around 100 bucks a night, yowtch. I didn’t expect success. I had to put in my Visa card as well, basically if someone goes for your price, you are locked in. Well, someone did! I ended up staying at a brand new apartment hotel just next to LAX (Homestead Village),  with green lawns and rose gardens, a huge room with huger bathroom, and a kitchen!  Incredible. For the price of a single Hostel room. They do airfares too, probably most useful for flights within the US. So file it away if you are heading to the US. My bank statement showed that they debited my Visa card the day they accepted my booking, for the exact amount they told me. They made the booking, too – I rang the hotel to make sure it was all done, and yep, booking was made (with no mention of what I’d paid, so the service I got was teh standard). No hiccups at all. I wish Australia had a service like this, but maybe it only works in a big market. ant

Response:

>Anyone heading to the US, check out www.Priceline.com for airline tix and >hotel stays etc.

There are several similar sites – one of the newer ones is: www.orbitz.com which is run by the airlines. People need to be very aware of the rules governing bookings made on these sites ie: most are non-refundable, non-changeable [or maybe for a fee].  Also info on where tickets can be picked up if they will not send to Aus/NZ.       Very few ever pay rack rate at hotels.       I had several cases when working in San Diego, CA of people who had bought cheap tickets and were consigned by Priorty Parcel to the sender at the airline’s baggage service office for pick up. Unfortunately more often than not, the packages never arrived before the person was due to fly out – NOT the fault of the airline but the senders. >When I was heading back to Oz from Vermont, I needed a place to stay >overnight in LA. Private rooms in the Hostels near the airport ran at about >30 bucks, so I tried it.

There are several places that offer cheap accommodation on the road out of the airport [Century Blvd]  over the east side of 405 freeway – this area is not one of the best to stay in. >I wish Australia had a service like this, but maybe it only works in a big >market. >ant

Maybe in time, someone in Aussie will set up such a system. Cath

Response:

 "ant" > Anyone heading to the US, check out www.Priceline.com for airline tix and > hotel stays etc. > When I was heading back to Oz from Vermont, I needed a place to stay > overnight in LA. Private rooms in the Hostels near the airport ran at about > 30 bucks, so I tried it. Basically, you punch in your requirement: the > dates, area, level of accommodation, and you put in your price. I put in 35 > bucks. I’d researched the LAX area, and the hotels all seemed to start > around 100 bucks a night, yowtch. I didn’t expect success. I had to put in > my Visa card as well, basically if someone goes for your price, you are > locked in.

You have to use an U.S. address but a dummy one works fine. You can get a booster of $5 by going to www.smarterliving.com   Not sure how long that will last (AmEx was giving a $20 booster last year resulting in me obtaining stays for a grand total of $11.95 at the SEA Doubletree inc. cookies and breakfast). WWW.hotwire.com reportedly has bonus money opportunities that expire imminently

Response: