courtesy oracle.com

So far, I have said that Hotels.com has the best price match guarantee. I thought I’d analyze their policy a little further and compare it to all the price match guarantees from all of the main hotel booking sites.

Hotels.com

And unlike some of our competitors, we will match the price right up to the time of the property’s cancellation deadline, whether that is three days after you made the booking or three months. So stop worrying and start booking.

• You must have already booked a prepaid reservation.
• This reservation cannot be for one of our non-discounted properties.
• The lower rate must be available for booking with identical specifications of the original request (ex: same hotel, same date and same room type.

…The guarantee applies only to the cost of booked travel, as presented in the hotels.com search results, without including taxes and fees.

“…right up to the time of the property’s cancellation deadline.” Any time you see a price match guarantee on the hotel, it means that hotels.com will match it up until the property’s own cancellation deadline, which I have found to be 1-3 days before the check-in day. Not all of Hotels.com’s hotels qualify for this guarantee, but most do. For a hotel search in the Colorado Springs area, 39 of the 55 hotels had the price match guarantee.

“…without including taxes and fees.” What this means is that this price match does not look at the total price, which would include taxes and fees. Considering that the only main difference in pricing among all the major hotel booking sites consists of taxes and fees, this price match policy isn’t much of a price match policy at all. However, after speaking to 3 different Hotels.com customer service representatives, each of them told me that they’d look at the total price. When I pointed out to “without including taxes and fees” in the terms and conditions each of them seemed surprised but reiterated that they’d still match the total price, which includes taxes and fees. What to make of this? Maybe, if the price difference for your reservation is marginal, they look at the total price. If the difference is too large, they might just point out what’s in the terms and conditions.

Expedia.com

It’s simple! Expedia guarantees you’re getting the best price. If you should find a better price online for the same trip within 24 hours, Expedia will refund the difference—and give you a travel coupon worth $50.

Except as noted below, the Best Price Guarantee applies only to the cost of booked travel, as presented in the Expedia.com search results, without including any taxes and fees.

I called Expedia (which has the same prices as hotels.com), they told me that they’d also match the total price, including taxes and fees. When I pointed out to them that the terms and conditions state that the guarantee excludes taxes and fees, they told me that they’d match the price difference regardless. What to make of this? Again, like hotels.com, my guess is that if your price difference is small, they’ll look at the total price. If the price difference is large, they must just ignore you by pointing out what’s in the terms and conditions.

Cheaptickets.com

It took some haggling and arm-twisting, but we’re confident that any hotel rate backed by our Best Price Guarantee is the lowest online. If you book a prepaid hotel rate that’s backed by our Best Price Guarantee, and then find the same room, in the same hotel, for the same dates, at a lower price online within 24 hours, we’ll refund the difference.

There is no mention of whether this takes into account taxes and fees, but I’m afraid that Cheaptickets official policy is to not look at the total price (including taxes and fees), seeing that Orbitz, its sister site does not look at taxes and fees…

Orbitz.com

With Low Price Guarantee, if you find a lower rate, before taxes and fees, for the same hotel, room type, and check-in and check-out dates on Orbitz or any other Web site within 24 hours following your confirmed reservation on Orbitz.com, Orbitz will refund you the difference upon verification you have qualified for a refund. In addition, with Orbitz Price Assurance, ANYTIME after you have booked your hotel, if another Orbitz customer subsequently books the same hotel, meaning the same check-in/check-out dates, room type, room description, number of rooms, number of travelers, at the same hotel and subject to the same restrictions, that is at least $5 lower than the hotel you booked on Orbitz.com, Orbitz will refund you the difference up to a maximum of $500.00 per reservation.

Travelocity.com

If you find a Qualifying Lower Rate within twenty four hours (found on Travelocity or another U.S.-based Web site) of your booking, we will provide you with the following per booking:

• One $50 Promo Code for a future “Good Buy” Hotel or Flight + Hotel vacation package booking on Travelocity and
• A refund of the difference between the price you paid through Travelocity and the Qualifying Lower Rate.

The Low Price Guarantee applies only to the base cost, and not taxes and fees (or service fees), of standalone Flight, Hotel, Car, and Cruise bookings. For such bookings, any service fee or tax recovery charge is not considered in determining whether you have found a Qualifying Lower Rate.

Gtahotels.com

We are so confident that you won’t find a better rate elsewhere that we offer a 100% guarantee. If you find exactly the same deal online elsewhere for less we will match the other price and we will refund you 100% of the difference.

Price Match Refund Request Form located below must be filled out and sent within 24 hours of making your reservation.

After speaking to their customer service representative, he told me that their price match guarantee applies to the total price, including taxes and fees.

Booking.com

Should you find your hotel room, with the same booking conditions, at a lower rate on the internet after you have booked, we’ll match it. Just contact us within 24 hours of booking, with details of the website.

After speaking to their customer service representative, they told me that their guarantee applies to the total price, including taxes and fees.

Reservetravel.com

All hotel reservations are guaranteed to be the lowest rate available, at the time of booking, for the dates requested and the same hotel. If you find a lower rate for the same dynamics the process is simple: Submit our Rate Guarantee Form within 24 hours of making the booking with us. We will either refund the difference or cancel the reservation without penalty.

Although I haven’t yet confirmed whether their low price guarantee looks at the total price, I’ll update this page when I get a response from them.

Hotelclub.com

None

Easyclicktravel.com

None

Conclusion: Price match guarantees from the major booking sites are not as glamorous as they seem. Hotels.com, Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com, and quite possibly Cheaptickets.com only look at the base price (excluding taxes and fees) to determine if your reservation applies for a price match guarantee. This is disturbing considering that taxes and fees are the only things which make prices different among these sites. The base prices for hotels, from all these sites, is, if not the same, very very similar.

Although Gtahotels.com, Booking.com, and possibly Reservetravel.com say that they look at the total price, I’m not 100% sure that they honor their promises.

courtesy Priceline.com

One of the ways to find Louisville cheap hotels is by using Priceline’s Name Your Own Price option, which allows you to bid for cheap hotels in Louisville. Although you won’t know the exact place you’ll be staying in (you find out what hotel you’ll have only once your credit card is charged), the kinds of prices it gives you more than makes up for the uncertainty. While you’re bidding the only 2 things that you will know about your hotel is the general area it will be in and minimum amount of stars it will have. Why the ambiguity?

When hotels have rooms which are left unsold they use Priceline to fill them. As such, Priceline connects bargain shopping customers who do not mind not knowing which hotel they’ll be staying in, with these hotels.

The key to getting the best price possible on Priceline is how you bid. If you only know how to bid one time, you’ll be forced to bid high. If you know how to bid many times, you can bid low from the beginning and increase your bid by a little bit each time, guaranteeing that you get the lowest price possible on Priceline. How do you rebid many times?

Although the rebidding method is not shown on Priceline’s website, it is prevalent elsewhere on the web.

Search Louisville in Priceline and you’ll notice that it gives you 6 zones:

Brooks – Shepherdsville
Louisville Airport Area (SDF)
Louisville Downtown
Louisville East
Louisville North
Louisville Southwest

By clicking and unclicking on each zone you’ll find out the maximum star level available within each zone:

Brooks – Shepherdsville: 2-Star Moderate
Louisville Airport Area (SDF): 3-Star Upscale
Louisville Downtown: 4-Star Deluxe
Louisville East: 3-Star Upscale
Louisville North: 3-Star Upscale
Louisville Southwest: 2 1⁄2-Star Moderate-Plus

Why do you have to find out the maximum star level? Because it is the key to rebidding…

I’m assuming here that you want to stay in a hotel that is at least 3-Star Upscale. This means that you can only bid for the zones which contain at least 3 stars (Louisville Airport Area, Louisville Downtown, Louisville East, Louisville North). If you want immediate rebids you simply include additional zones in your bid that do not include your minimum/chosen star level. This way you get immediate rebids. Because these dummy zones do not include your chosen star level, you know you won’t get stuck in these “dummy”: zones.

Louisville Airport Area, Louisville East, Louisville North, or Louisville Downtown can each be substituted for the “bid zone” you see below. How much should you start the bid for each zone? Check betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com. In the Kentucky zone of each website you’ll see the winning bids for 3 Star Upscale hotels within each zone.

If your 4 bids for one of these 3 zones does not work, you still have 2 zones with 4 bids each. (make sure to have 3-Star Upscale at all times as your chosen star level)

1. bid zone
2. bid zone+Brooks – Shepherdsville
3. bid zone+Louisville Southwest
4. bid zone+Louisville Southwest+Brooks – Shepherdsville

For bid 3 you’re going to have to start brand new bid by clicking the Priceline logo at the rejection screen (check picture at end of article)

For bids 2 and 4 you simply add the additional zones (check the picture at the end of article)

If you want 4-Star Deluxe or 3 1⁄2-Star Upscale-Plus you only have Louisville Downtown with which to work with because it is the only zone which contains 4-Star Deluxe and 3 1⁄2-Star Upscale-Plus. What should your first bid be? I checked out biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com.

If you want 4-Star Deluxe as your chosen/minimum star level: At the time this article was written there were only several winning bids posted dating back to 2007. These bids were in the neighborhood of $90. I’d start bidding at $65 with $5 increments. Or you can start at $80 with $2 bid increments. It’s all up to you.

If you want 3 1⁄2-Star Upscale-Plus as your chosen/minimum star level: I saw recent bid for around $55.

Despite what I saw, you should still check yourself. By the time you read this article there will be newer recent bids posted.

You have 32 bids available! Feel free to mix it up:

(Make sure to have 4-Star Deluxe or 3 1⁄2-Star Upscale-Plus as your chosen star level for all bids and that your bid higher each time, otherwise you are wasting your bids.)

For every even numbered bid you simply add a zone to where it says “Can you select additional areas where you can stay?” For every odd numbered bid after the first bid (3,5,7,…) you’re going to have to start a new bid by clicking the Priceline logo in the top left corner of the rejection screen.

1. Down.
2. Down.+Brooks
3. Down.+Airport
4. Down.+Airport+Brooks
5. Down.+East
6. Down.+East+Brooks
7. Down.+Airport+East
8. Down.+Airport+East+Brooks
9. Down.+North
10. Down.+North+Brooks
11. Down.+Airport+North
12. Down.+Airport+North+Brooks
13. Down.+East+North
14. Down.+East+North+Brooks
15. Down.+Airport+East+North
16. Down.+Airport+East+North+Brooks
17. Down.+Southwest
18. Down.+Southwest+Brooks
19. Down.+Airport+Southwest
20. Down.+Airport+Southwest+Brooks
21. Down.+East+Southwest
22. Down.+East+Southwest+Brooks
23. Down.+Airport+East+Southwest
24. Down.+Airport+East+Southwest+Brooks
25. Down.+North+Southwest
26. Down.+North+Southwest+Brooks
27. Down.+Airport+North+Southwest
28. Down.+Airport+North+Southwest+Brooks
29. Down.+East+North+Southwest
30. Down.+East+North+Southwest+Brooks
31. Down.+Airport+East+North+Southwest
32. Down.+Airport+East+North+Southwest+Brooks

A big thanks to betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com Although both sites talk about permutation method which I use to help you, biddingfortravel.com has an “advanced rebidding” post which places all the permutations in a logical order, thus making you start a new bid every other bid rather than for most of the bids (you’ll see what I mean once you start bidding yourself).

Happy bidding! With this method you are sure find Louisville cheap hotels!

Jay Miller, “Downtown Colorado Springs” October, 30 2007 via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution.

If you are looking for Colorado Springs cheap hotels, or any cheap hotel for that matter, you might be suffering from information overload. You want a good price, but where do you start? I break down the options…

1. Priceline

When hotels have unsold rooms and are looking to sell them off at discounted rates they use Priceline and/or Hotwire to fill them. Both sites connect these hotels to bargain shopping customers. For the year of 2008 Priceline ranked second , only behind Hotwire, for customer satisfaction among all travel sites. If you only look at pricing, Priceline is the site to find hotels for the Colorado Springs area. Using Priceline to Find Colorado Springs Hotel Deals tells you how to get immediate rebids with Priceline for the Colorado Springs area.

2. Hotwire

J.D. Power & Associates has ranked Hotwire number 1 in customer satisfaction for 3 straight years (2006-2008). Hotwire works the same way as Priceline. The main difference between the two is that Hotwire’s prices are predetermined/fixed. If you want to use either Hotwire or Priceline for finding a cheap hotel in Colorado Springs, but can’t decide on which one, check out Hotwire vs. Priceline: A Comparison.

3. Metasearch sites

Metasearch sites gather information from hundreds of hotel booking sites.

Sites which allow you to sort your hotel search results by lowest price include:

Kayak.com

Sidestep.com

Hotelscombined.com

In my non-scientific test for the Colorado Springs area, when I sorted by lowest price for each of the above three, Kayak.com and Sidestep.com gave me the same exact results. This is not surpising considering that Kayak now owns Sidestep. Hotelscombined.com gave me slightly different results. Regardless, all three gave me the same range of prices, with the lowest price for each starting at $47 for the “Travelodge Colorado Springs South”. This means that you’d be safe with either of these 3 metasearch sites.

Uptake.com is another metasearch site. Although you can’t sort your hotel results by lowest price, it does a good job of reporting the reviews from the various hotel booking sites.

Tripadvisor.com is known as the review site. Although it doesn’t gather review information from all the different sites like Uptake, it already has a lot of reviews on its own site to help you make an informed decision on where to stay. I found that when I sorted by “lowest price” for the Colorado Springs area, the hotels I saw were very similar to what I saw on Kayak, Sidestep, and Hotelscombined.

So, which of these sites (Kayak, Sidestep, Hotelscombined, Uptake, or Tripadvisor) do you use when you want to find cheap hotels in Colorado Springs? It’s all up to you. There is no “perfect” site out there to find a cheap hotel. If you like seeing reviews, check out Uptake or Tripadvisor. If you want some of the lowest prices, check out Kayak, Sidestep, or Hotelscombined. There are other sites out there that you can use but I guarantee you that if you use only 1 of these sites, you’ll make a good decision.

4. Browse the major booking sites/websites of the hotels themselves

Why browse booking sites such as Hotels.com, Cheaptickets.com, or Travelocity.com as well as the hotels’ websites when you can just sort by lowest price on the metasearch sites? Well, price isn’t everything. I have yet to find a metasearch site which allows you to sort your search results by lowest price and by cancellation policy. You’ll find that many if not most of the lowest rates are non-refundable.

Even if you find the lowest price from one of the metasearch sites such as Kayak, prices change all the time, minute by minute. In Price Match Guarantees of the Major Booking Sites I examine the price match polices of all the major booking sites.

Although metasearch sites scan “everything”, it is unlikely that you’d be getting ripped off if you buy from one of the major booking sites after comparing prices amongst the booking sites and the hotel website. Prices from different hotel booking sites is not like the stock market. There is a price floor which all prices gravitate towards to. Which of the major booking sites are closest to this price floor? So far I have found that Hotels.com and Orbitz.com/Cheaptickets.com have very competitive prices, although other sites will have better prices for different areas.

5. Call the hotel

Once you get a price by using either one of the metasearch sites or comparing booking sites and hotel website prices, try calling the hotel to see if they can’t get you a better deal. Although I didn’t have much luck over the phone using this method in my Colorado Springs Hotels case study (A lot of the hotels told me that they are too booked for my hypothetical date due to graduation), I had a lot more luck in my Omaha Hotels case study when I booked my hypothetical stay months in advance.

Keep in mind that whichever way you use to book your hotel for the Colorado Springs area, you might not be getting the best price. You’ll be getting a good price. And, when looking for Colorado Springs cheap hotels, that’s all we’re looking for.