Thursday, October 4, 2012

Hotels with vacant rooms often turn to travel websites like hotwire.com, hotels.com or priceline.com




Hotels with vacant rooms often turn to travel websites like hotwire.com, hotels.com or priceline.com cruise travel accessories in order to sell them. The hotels offer them at lower rates, cruise travel accessories since a head in the bed at a reduced rate will likely be more profitable than an empty one.
Consumers can take advantage of these lower rates, but there are restrictions which may result in the buyer not getting exactly what they want. Sometimes the deal isn't worth the hassle, but it may be too late after the decision to buy has been made.
There are two methods that hotels use to see vacant rooms. The normal method is to list the price and location of the hotel room on the website, and consumers can decide which hotel has the best price; given the location and amenities they desire.
The other method is called an opaque listing. cruise travel accessories Opaque is the opposite of transparent. cruise travel accessories Therefore, regarding cruise travel accessories hotel sales, the consumer is not able to see all the details of the hotel until after the purchase is made.
In the case of hotwire.com, those looking for hotels select an area and the date(s) they wish to stay. Hotwire.com returns a listing of hotels, but with no names or exact addresses. The listings include the price, cruise travel accessories generic listings of amenities, a star rating system, and the percentage of former visitors who would recommend the hotel.
The rates offered are generally much less than standard rates, and usually lower than comparable internet rates. The catch is that the buyer does not find out the name and location of the hotel until commit to purchase and their credit card is charged.
The reason the name of the hotel is hidden is because the hotel does not want to offer these low rates to all their customers, only for the rooms they cannot fill at their regular rates. They don't want everyone else asking for refunds. The hotels only have to worry about meeting their variable costs .
The downside of using any opaque site is that the hotel may not be as desirable as you expect from the limited information you are provided. You are only given a general area, so the hotel may not be as safe as you would like. Or the amenities may turn out to be less desirable, such as a run down fitness center, lousy restaurant or fee based internet service instead of free.
Once accepted, the credit card is charged and there are no refunds. Consumers belonging to hotel loyalty cruise travel accessories programs (e.g. Hilton Honors) cannot use or receive points for stays booked on hotwire.com or other opaque sites.
Grabbing the steeply discounted rates at hotwire and similar sites makes sense if a customer is familiar with an area and the type of hotels. Airport cruise travel accessories or suburban areas are generally safer overall, and therefore less risky. There is a chance there will be more variability in a downtown area.
If a customer is particular about certain amenities, such as in a resort area, it may be better to select a specific hotel that meets every need, and save the unknown hotel for other trips. Big discounts are great, but not at the cost of a disappointing cruise travel accessories vacation.

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