travelling from canada to hilton head

If you plan on staying in a hotel halfway in your trip you often get the best rates by reserving on line- do not authorize any prepayment online ie priceline or hot wire,when you get to the hotel you may even get a better rate by asking the checkin receptionist what their cheapest rate is ie AAA, ARAP etc-you will find you often get the same rate as the ';cutrate online sites'; and the hotel does not charge as many fees. Unfortunately I learned this too late after booking on hotwire and now I can%26#39;t cancel. Lesson learned. Obviously any holiday or peak season always requires booking ahead.

travelling from canada to hilton head

Thanks for the alert about paying though a third-party provider.

Many chain hotel websites (i.e. the website for the hotel itself, not Priceline or Hotwire) list the special rates for individual properties right on the site itself. If you choose the AAA rate, for example, you type in your membership number on the booking form, and then show the card at the hotel to confirm. The hotel holds your credit card number, but you can cancel without penalty - usually before 4 pm on the day of arrival.

Another approach is the phone ahead to the LOCAL number for the hotel to inquire about what special rates they are offering for your dates. Local areas have high days and low, depending upon whatever events are going on around town.

travelling from canada to hilton head

Sophiethehorse: I do have to take issue with the bald statements you are making about hotwire and priceline vs the best rate at the hotel. While I have never used priceline before, we use hotwire every time I book our Hilton Head vacation. From personal experience, I can vouch for the price quoted on Hotwire is the cheapest you will find.

Case in point, in December we booked the Hilton Oceanfront resort and paid $69 per night. We decided to book an additional night as we wanted to linger before we left home for Canada. The front desk would not offer the same price we paid for the previous night, even though you could shoot a cannon ball and not hit a soul. The price was at least double. Therefore, I went into their business centre which was directly across from the check-in. I went online on their computer and booked the additional night through Hotwire. The front desk clerk was within earshot of me, so when it said that I had a confirmation at $69 per night, I shouted to the clerk if she got our reservation in her screen and she gave me the ';thumbs up.'; She was very cordial about the whole thing and couldn%26#39;t have been nicer about it. True story.

As well, you cannot book through Hotwire without giving a credit card authorization. That%26#39;s why you get such low prices and, yes, they are nonrefundable. To tell you the honest truth, to get the Hilton Oceanfront at $59 to $69 per night, I will NEVER stop using Hotwire and the Hilton will NEVER offer that rate to anyone directly.

Yes, I do agree that you have to do your homework, but if you do, you will get a great rate using Hotwire. My sister this past summer booked the Sheraton downtown Toronto for $69 a night using Hotwire. This is a gorgeous suite hotel.

Sorry to disagree, but my experiences have been much different than your one booking.

We are also CAA members, we travel a lot, and even CAA has never touched those deals either.

D in Muskoka.

D...glad you got such a good rate with hotwire, the hilton is a great hotel. I can only relate my first experience with hotwire. When we checked into the hotel last year (note rates are the same this year) we had prebooked with travelocity ($79us+ 18.56 taxes) we asked if that was their best rate. They came up with $59.00us +$7.12 taxes. Hotwire this year gave us $59.00 us +$14.00 tax recovery chages and fee. Perhaps it helps when you you what hotel they deal with where, but if you don%26#39;t you are taking a chance (it didn%26#39;t work out for me). Yes you did get a great deal wth the hilton and now you know what you%26#39;re getting but if you don%26#39;t know be prepared to be disappointed. that%26#39;s all I%26#39;m saying.

Perhaps I%26#39;m just bummed about the canadian dollar dropping (but gas prices are better)

LOL! I am getting ready to drive home to New Jersey. With all that%26#39;s going on otherwise, I will enjoy the low gas prices!