Hotels.com and Quikbook.com are consolidators that buy rooms in bulk—mostly in North America and Western Europe—and resell them on-line. Hotels.com is somewhat simpler to use, with bookings completed in a matter of minutes, but frustratingly, it doesn't provide the phone numbers of the properties if you need additional information. Quikbook does; it also carries ratings based on staff visits, doesn't require prepayment, doesn't charge for changes, and is easier on the eyes.
Still, either site could have the better price (a room at the Delano in Miami Beach was recently $26 less on Hotels.com), more choices (Hotels.com offered us 19 kinds of rooms at Chicago's Hotel Burnham; Quikbook had only two), or greater availability (Hotels.com didn't carry anything at Boston's XV Beacon; Quikbook did). Before you book, call the hotel directly to check for anything cheaper and to confirm important details, such as view and amenities. Hotels.com recently described a "double" room at the Time hotel in New York as having two double beds, but a call to the front desk revealed it to be a paltry 140 square feet, with only one double bed.
If you're not happy with the options on these two sites, there are others. Edinburgh-based All-hotels.com handles a whopping 60,000 properties—including inns and B&B's—around the world. The just-launched TravelWeb.com brings together the formidable forces of Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Six Continents, and Starwood and promises access to real-time inventory (the site was not available for us to evaluate in time for this article). London-based Andbook.com is geared to European business travelers, and has an impressive range of properties—everything from Doubletree to Kempinski to the Luxury Collection—and locations.
You're on a tight budget.
If price is your main concern, and you're willing to fly at odd hours, try the auction sites. For domestic trips, Priceline and Hotwire.com deliver essentially the same goods. Both let you name the amount you're willing to pay but reveal the details of your itinerary only after you've punched in your credit card number. Both also promise a departure between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. unless you're more flexible. Both have partnerships with 30 major airlines, though some are represented only on one or the other. Neither lets you earn miles or upgrade. The main difference is comfort level. On Priceline, if your bid is met by an airline or a hotel, you're charged automatically. Hotwire is less rigid: it gives you a choice of prices first—but no other particulars—and then lets you decide whether to continue. Our advice: See what Hotwire turns up. If you like it, book it. If you think you can do better, give Priceline a shot, bidding slightly less than the Hotwire offer.
Luxurylink.com, as its name suggests, auctions high-end hotel stays and packages at discounted prices—mostly off-season. On a recent search, bidding started at $1,550 for six nights at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro (retail value $3,390); $5,520 for a 10-day Caribbean cruise for two on Crystal Cruises (versus $9,185); and $6,234 for a 13-night Wildlife Safari trip for two in Kenya and Tanzania (versus $10,390). The catch?Flexibility: though you'll know the range of departure dates in advance, you can't check availability for a specific date until you've paid.
Before you die, you must see the Great Wall of China (or the Sydney Opera House, or the Taj Mahal)—but not if it costs too much.
Travelocity's Dream Maps let you see what's available at the price you want to spend. Designate your departure city, price, and region of choice, and you could luck out. One recent Dream Map offered us a fare from Miami to Athens for $538 on Austrian Airlines with a stop in Vienna; a Dallas-Delhi flight (with multiple connections) turned up for $1,118 on Northwest and Air India. For each, we had to be very flexible with our dates.
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