Cheap Jew hotel tips

[Dan Druff]

I just spent a weekend at a hotel in a secret location.

Here are some tips on how to both save money and make your stay at a hotel more enjoyable:

- Don't use third-party booking sites, such as Orbitz, because they rarely have the best deal. Go directly to the hotel's website, look up their lowest rates, and then call their front desk (NOT the national reservations center) and ask for their lowest rate. Book using whatever method is cheapest. Also ask if they have an AAA rate.

- They can't charge you a "resort fee" or any other extraneous fee (aside from taxes) without disclosing it beforehand. If you are quoted $150/night and you get there to find it's actually $150/night plus a $20 resort fee, refuse to pay the resort fee. They have to honor the price you were quoted.

- Don't automatically use their parking lot, unless it's free or cheap. Often you can park very close by for free or much cheaper, and you can always use their free "loading/unloading" spots when you're checking in or out.

- Always speak up if something is wrong. Is your room noisy? Is there a maintenance problem of some sort? Call up immediately and they will always let you switch rooms, provided one is available. If they can't switch your room, they will almost always either fix the problem and/or give you a discount. For example, during this past stay, I found that they put me in a very noisy room which overlooked their main parking lot. They switched me to a much quieter one on the other side.

- If you're going to use their drinking glasses, immediately call up for new ones when you get there. The ones they bring up to you are straight from the dishwasher, while the ones in your room were probably hand-washed with the same towel that was used to clean the toilet (not even joking about this).

- Don't knock yourself out to get out by the posted checkout time. Call up the night before and ask for a later checkout, which they will usually give you for free, and will typically extend it by 30-120 minutes. Also, it is very rare for them to penalize you for checking out late, so you can check out even later than whatever they extend you. For example, if checkout time is 12:00, you can call and extend it to 1:00, and then not actually leave the room until 1:45, and they're not likely to complain or charge you anything.

- Before buying any package that includes a breakfast, check to see if the breakfast includes eggs made to order. If yes, it's probably a good breakfast. If no, the breakfast is probably terrible and worth almost nothing.

- Most hotels have a plastic laundry bag in the closet. That bag is supposed to be for using their own laundry service, but you are also welcome to take it for yourself. I always take the bag and use it for my dirty clothes.

- Never accept a "downgrade" unless they give you some kind of major compensation. Some hotels will oversell rooms, expecting a certain percentage of people to no-show. If you get there and your promised room category isn't available, don't just settle for that room and the difference in price. Demand that they either upgrade you, put you in a different hotel, or give you some kind of extra compensation.

- Don't be afraid to ask for credit on your bill if something isn't as expected. This includes plumbing problems (which aren't quickly fixed), lack of promised parking, unexpected noise, or anything else you didn't expect that somewhat ruins your stay. My personal policy is not to ask for credit if they can solve a problem quickly and easily, but anything left unsolved or extremely inconvenient deserves some sort of credit on my bill, because I'm not getting the service I paid for.

- Always get a final bill upon check-out, and make sure it agrees with your credit card statement. Before leaving, scan your bill and make sure there are no unexpected charges on it. A surprisingly high percentage of hotel bills have mistakes on them, and it is very rare for those mistakes to be in your favor.

- If you travel a lot, consider getting either an aircard for your laptop, or get some sort of "tethering"/hotspot service on your cell phone. This will allow you to avoid the obnoxiously expensive internet charges that many hotels are charging these days.

- Read reviews of the hotel you want to book on Yelp or Tripadvisor before making the reservation. If most of the reviews are bad, stay away!

[lewfather]

I was just lulzing at beerandpoker for using orbitz like 30 minutes ago

[Dan Druff]

I was just lulzing at beerandpoker for using orbitz like 30 minutes ago

It's funny, because the standard method to get the best deal on hotels keep changing as the years go by.

About 10 years ago, sites like Orbitz were definitely the way to go. They were almost always cheaper than booking through the hotel itself.

Then the hotels wised up and started offering the same or better deals themselves, figuring that they were wasting money giving third party commissions for the same rooms they could sell directly.

However, at that point, it was usually cheaper to call the hotel directly and get deals over the phone, as the internet rate tended to be higher than the rate the front desk would quote.

Now it has changed again, to where the hotel's internet site is typically offering the best deals, and it's rare to get a better deal by calling the front desk. I still occasionally check sites like Orbitz to see if I can get a better price, but it's always either the same or more expensive, and it often comes with additional restrictions.

I used to like using Priceline for hotels, but that was before there were reliable review sites on the net. Now that I can see which hotels are good and which ones suck, I hate letting Priceline make the decision for me as to where I'll be staying.

[lewfather]

I can agree to that like I was telling beerandpoker, separate your bookings with flights and hotel. Avoid travel agents and priceline type sites because I can only imagine you're getting middled. Use direct sites like you want stay at aria and fly delta. Use Delta's site and go to aria's site directly to book your shit. I don't know how people are "travel agents" I mean I guess if you're taking holiday in like Beirut with someone guiding you otherwise what's the point? You're telling me you can't manage your way around America or Western Europe? GTFO!

[Dan Druff]

I can agree to that like I was telling beerandpoker, separate your bookings with flights and hotel. Avoid travel agents and priceline type sites because I can only imagine you're getting middled. Use direct sites like you want stay at aria and fly delta. Use Delta's site and go to aria's site directly to book your shit. I don't know how people are "travel agents" I mean I guess if you're taking holiday in like Beirut with someone guiding you otherwise what's the point? You're telling me you can't manage your way around America or Western Europe? GTFO!

Yeah, for the most part travel agents are useless.

The only real use for them is to sign up with one of those bargain travel agencies that gives you back a percentage of their commission (usually you get back like 5% on your booking). This is only worth doing if you travel very often, or if you take very expensive trips.

[lewfather]

What I don't understand is why people just flock to sites like kayak/priceline? You have to know you're getting owned right? People use sites like this like it's the gospel, I literally had a friend who (doesn't play poker) booked a vegas trip through one of these sites for his gf and himself. $800/each got them round trip flights and like 5 nights stay at the fucking excal! I on the reg can get flights for around $200'ish round trip, using this math that's like saying you spent $600 on 5 nights hotel stay at excal...really? $120/night for bottom tier room at excal? Shit they could have stayed at Aria and saved money if he/they played poker! lol fucking LOLs

[Dan Druff]

What I don't understand is why people just flock to sites like kayak/priceline? You have to know you're getting owned right? People use sites like this like it's the gospel, I literally had a friend who (doesn't play poker) booked a vegas trip through one of these sites for his gf and himself. $800/each got them round trip flights and like 5 nights stay at the fucking excal! I on the reg can get flights for around $200'ish round trip, using this math that's like saying you spent $600 on 5 nights hotel stay at excal...really? $120/night for bottom tier room at excal? Shit they could have stayed at Aria and saved money if he/they played poker! lol fucking LOLs

Reminds me of a story from about 10-15 years ago...

I knew a dude from the internet who lived in Milwaukee and had never been to Vegas before. He told me that he was coming to Vegas soon and would be staying at the Excalibur.

I tried to convince him that the Excalibur was a shithole, and that he should stay elsewhere, but he responded, "I can't. My girlfriend likes the fact that it's castle, and she's insisting that I take her to Vegas so she can stay in a fucking castle."

I tried to tell him that the "castle" aspect was just the outside of it, and that the inside is just a regular lower-end casino, but it didn't do any good.

He went on the trip as planned.

I asked him afterwards how it went, and he told me it was awful. He said that the Excalibur sucked, and that his girlfriend was a bitch throughout the entire vacation, and ruined the trip.

[Hockey Guy]

I can agree to that like I was telling beerandpoker, separate your bookings with flights and hotel. Avoid travel agents and priceline type sites because I can only imagine you're getting middled. Use direct sites like you want stay at aria and fly delta. Use Delta's site and go to aria's site directly to book your shit. I don't know how people are "travel agents" I mean I guess if you're taking holiday in like Beirut with someone guiding you otherwise what's the point? You're telling me you can't manage your way around America or Western Europe? GTFO!

Travel agents are becoming a thing of the past. All the info is readily available on the internet if you know where to look.

Travel sites like Orbitz, travelocity, etc. are good for comparing to see what may be available. When booking with these sites you can't cancel or change &, I know it's hard to believe but, a lot of people don't know this. There are some specials direct with the hotel like this but they are normally very visible & hard to miss.

Also, I agree with lew & wouldn't book a flight, hotel package deal unless it was really fantastic & was for the hotel I really want to stay at & would be very unlikely to think I could do better.

I help a lot of friends & relatives with travel stuff & they are amazed how much 1 person can do with a little research. Rental cars are my specialty & I have an insane amount of travel related sites in my favorites. I have a lot of time on my hands since I work a lot of night shifts & have nothing better to do than research this kind of shit for people.

[lewfather]

First to respond to druff, I know you could personally give a shit but for the woman involved wouldn't you think you'd rather sit opposite of the excal to VIEW the castle? I just dont understand people at all, I mean granted I know this person is a fucking retard and your friend, her man just wanted to go to vegas and I know you tried to help. But as a person, do you want to see the back or side of something or if you're truly intrigued, see the front of it from a different and better hotel? People constantly baffle me lol

and to respond to hockeyguy, I'd say the only way I'd ever use a travel agent and even this is unlikely would be to a place like jamaica, where there personal recommendation is on the line. For me this is the only way booking combined makes sense, you're flying in to a destination you will be locked in fully for like a week. You need to trust either your own research or your agent, if the agent is lying his ass is on the line.

[Hockey Guy]

and to respond to hockeyguy, I'd say the only way I'd ever use a travel agent and even this is unlikely would be to a place like jamaica, where there personal recommendation is on the line. For me this is the only way booking combined makes sense, you're flying in to a destination you will be locked in fully for like a week. You need to trust either your own research or your agent, if the agent is lying his ass is on the line.

The all-inclusives are basically the only way to go & have to be booked together so that's just the way it is. I would never use a travel agent for something like this when there is so much info readily available online.

British travel agents still push Circus Circus on their unsuspecting clients for fuck sakes & is a reason I would never just trust them. He's not laying his on the line for anything. They push you to whoever gives them the best commission & that's the bottom line.

[lewfather]

Okay back up a second hockeyguy, I know that all inclusives are the only way to go where you're leaving me out is why you dont need advice. I mean I'm not doubting you, I'm just saying this is the only reason why I still use an agent. I like to go down to Jamaica, I don't hit the major spots that everyone knows about like sandals etc. So I sort of relay on my agent to guide me, where are you getting your information on places to go etc? I mean if you're going to the major spots then I can do the same thing but I like to roam around, I like the places that have courses in resort/near resort. I don't want to play the same courses over and over again. I'm just curious where are you getting this priceless information on Jamaica?

[Hockey Guy]

Okay back up a second hockeyguy, I know that all inclusives are the only way to go where you're leaving me out is why you dont need advice. I mean I'm not doubting you, I'm just saying this is the only reason why I still use an agent. I like to go down to Jamaica, I don't hit the major spots that everyone knows about like sandals etc. So I sort of relay on my agent to guide me, where are you getting your information on places to go etc? I mean if you're going to the major spots then I can do the same thing but I like to roam around, I like the places that have courses in resort/near resort. I don't want to play the same courses over and over again. I'm just curious where are you getting this priceless information on Jamaica?

I guess I misunderstood your post. You are obviously not talking about an all inclusive but rather a more obscure excursion. I guess if you are going off the beaten path & you have someone you trust(& it sounds like you do)then definitely go for it. For that matter, if you have a close friend or aquaintance that is a TA then by all means use them all the time. My point is, I wouldn't just walk into some guys office & trust them to do right for me because they are a travel agent.

I've had a bad experience with a TA that cost me an extra $1000. I was a novice traveler, didn't know them at all & thought, well they know what they are doing & found out she didn't research anything to get me a better deal even though I told her I was flexible on dates. AS I already said, I now research everything myself since my job affords me the time to do so.

[John Stamos]

lew how do you get 200 round trip flights? I can never seem to find these deals flying to vegas from okc.

[Yebsite]

my recent hotel visit cost me over $2500...

[lewfather]

lew how do you get 200 round trip flights? I can never seem to find these deals flying to vegas from okc.

It's never #OUTRIGHT $200 straight, you have to factor in your miles, free flights, free luggage, discounted rates, air fare clubs etc. You don't magically travel east coast to west coast and back for an easy $200 or less. Although southwest is opening up a new flight pattern from DTW to Mcarran for $99 each way including 2 free bags checked. $198 + tax essentially, no priors, cant really argue with that but that's coming in september.

edit: I have paid less then $200 for flights but prior to the latest gas siege. My trip in september for my friends wedding in vegas I paid $36 each way plus taxes but that still came out to like $150 with luggage.

[Dan Druff]

Regarding airfares, they aren't always as straightforward as you might think.

For example, which do you think is cheaper: LA to Montana, or LA to New York?

The obvious answer is LA to Montana, since it's far less distance, but that's wrong! Typically you can fly LA-NY far cheaper than LA-Montana. Why? Because pricing is often based upon how common the route is, in addition to distance. If the airline flies there a lot, it will be cheaper than expected. If the airline doesn't go there very often (and if it's not a typical stop on the way to other frequent destination), you pay a premium for that.

This might be why lewfather gets better rates from Detroit than John Stamos does from OKC.

[Dan Druff]

Oh, and I agree that all-inclusives are better for Jamaica, but mainly because Jamaica is a slum and you really don't want to be going around the city looking for a place to eat.

In general, though, I stay away from all-inclusives because the food usually sucks. They feel that they don't have to try as hard because you've already paid for it.

[John Stamos]

lew how do you get 200 round trip flights? I can never seem to find these deals flying to vegas from okc.

It's never #OUTRIGHT $200 straight, you have to factor in your miles, free flights, free luggage, discounted rates, air fare clubs etc. You don't magically travel east coast to west coast and back for an easy $200 or less. Although southwest is opening up a new flight pattern from DTW to Mcarran for $99 each way including 2 free bags checked. $198 + tax essentially, no priors, cant really argue with that but that's coming in september.

Southwest knows what they are doing when it comes to flying but especially when it comes to branding. I wish they flew into DFW but they only fly into the shithole known as love field.

A somewhat amusing story about Southwest.

I had attended a bachelor party in Las Vegas last year and we were flying back to Dallas for the wedding. Long story but me and my buddy decided to skip the wedding and head back to OKC. Neither one of us had our cars as we had flown from OKC to Vegas and were planning on getting a ride back from the wedding. I had called a girl I was dating at the time from Vegas asking her to to lookup flights from Dallas to OKC as they are almost always really cheap and even cheaper when you book online. I couldn't book myself because we were already in the airport. She said she would get it done and that was the last I heard as we boarded the plane. We board our united flight and I call her right as we land at DFW and she said our flight leaves in an hour and I think ok great we can just hang out for a little while and take off. She said we are on Southwest flight 112..as soon as she spurts out southwest I think "oh fuck" I explain they only fly out of love field. I couldn't get mad at her because she did us a favor but we needed to book it, in saturday traffic in Dallas from DFW to Love Field. Our cabbie drives like a maniac and we made it just as they were boarding and still made everyone stand in the stupid section lines with about 20 total people on a huge plane. The story ends with the stewardess telling me to turn my phone off literally seconds after the captain says to and that she could "see the light on my phone, that always gives it away and if you don't comply we can kick you off the flight at your expense" I sigh and decided to not try and annoy her since its a 30 minute flight.

[John Stamos]

Regarding airfares, they aren't always as straightforward as you might think.

For example, which do you think is cheaper: LA to Montana, or LA to New York?

The obvious answer is LA to Montana, since it's far less distance, but that's wrong! Typically you can fly LA-NY far cheaper than LA-Montana. Why? Because pricing is often based upon how common the route is, in addition to distance. If the airline flies there a lot, it will be cheaper than expected. If the airline doesn't go there very often (and if it's not a typical stop on the way to other frequent destination), you pay a premium for that.

This might be why lewfather gets better rates from Detroit than John Stamos does from OKC.

Yes I completely understand this. It's obviously cheaper to fly into a major city than a less traveled airport. The reasons for this are because the airline will usually have more passengers traveling to that destination and more often have a hub or their own employees at that location as well. I think most people would have guessed LA to NY though Druff. Maybe I am wrong.

[Dan Druff]

Southwest ripped me off of $100, so I avoid them on principle.

I will give them credit for running an efficient business and keeping fares low, but they are terrible at customer service once something out of the ordinary occurs.