Hotel Reservations Using Travel Websites 2012
If you're planning a vacation and using an online reservation service for your accommodations, you're likely to face some challenges, especially if you're booking during peak season.
Use the tips below to protect yourself from the pitfalls of booking hotel accommodations online.
Peak season is likely to mean that year-round discounts advertised by a location, such as a senior discount or a traveler's club discounts, are not going to be honored by your hotel. When you look at advertised prices for accommodations, don't mentally deduct these amounts assuming that you'll get the discounts.
Have your dates and locations written down, so that you can refer to them when your options pop up. Try to build flexibility into your travel dates, such as starting a day early and ending a day early.
When your first attempt at booking a place and time fail and options come up, make sure the options are for your travel destination location.
Sometimes the options that pop up if one place is unavailable will include every place in the United States that has one of the keywords that you used to perform your search.
If you put in 'beachfront,' for instance you might find yourself looking at beachfront vacations in several different states as options if your first destination is booked.
When you're booking your accommodations at a particular hotel chain, check to make sure that you are getting the exact location you were looking into.
Many hotel chains have more than one hotel in a particular resort area, and you won't want to accidentally book at a location that is less desirable than the one you thought you were booking.
Before you book anything on a travel website, check out whether they charge a cancellation fee. You can do this online by looking up cancellation policy and the online booking company name.
Consider doing a comparison search on a couple of different travel sites that offer you the opportunity to make hotel reservations online. Many sites have different deals in addition to different reputations for coming through with the promised reservations.
The promotions hotels offer are not in a centralized location, so you should look at the hotel's website and general coupon sites in addition to travel sites before booking your accommodation online.
When you're researching online travel sites or a particular hotel, always make sure the information you're reading is current by including the current year as part of your search terms. Older travel advice and even older promotions will waste your time and energy.
Once you've made the reservation, contact the hotel directly to confirm that your reservation has been placed with them.
After a company's got your credit card number, plan on double-checking your credit card for unauthorized charges. This will allow you to take care of charges you believe are incorrect with the online booking company and your credit card company.
Making online travel plans for your hotel accommodations can be a problematic effort. Use the tips above to avoid some common mishaps that other users of online travel websites have faced to help make your online booking experience proceed as smoothly as possible.
Use the tips below to protect yourself from the pitfalls of booking hotel accommodations online.
Peak season is likely to mean that year-round discounts advertised by a location, such as a senior discount or a traveler's club discounts, are not going to be honored by your hotel. When you look at advertised prices for accommodations, don't mentally deduct these amounts assuming that you'll get the discounts.
Have your dates and locations written down, so that you can refer to them when your options pop up. Try to build flexibility into your travel dates, such as starting a day early and ending a day early.
When your first attempt at booking a place and time fail and options come up, make sure the options are for your travel destination location.
Sometimes the options that pop up if one place is unavailable will include every place in the United States that has one of the keywords that you used to perform your search.
If you put in 'beachfront,' for instance you might find yourself looking at beachfront vacations in several different states as options if your first destination is booked.
When you're booking your accommodations at a particular hotel chain, check to make sure that you are getting the exact location you were looking into.
Many hotel chains have more than one hotel in a particular resort area, and you won't want to accidentally book at a location that is less desirable than the one you thought you were booking.
Before you book anything on a travel website, check out whether they charge a cancellation fee. You can do this online by looking up cancellation policy and the online booking company name.
Consider doing a comparison search on a couple of different travel sites that offer you the opportunity to make hotel reservations online. Many sites have different deals in addition to different reputations for coming through with the promised reservations.
The promotions hotels offer are not in a centralized location, so you should look at the hotel's website and general coupon sites in addition to travel sites before booking your accommodation online.
When you're researching online travel sites or a particular hotel, always make sure the information you're reading is current by including the current year as part of your search terms. Older travel advice and even older promotions will waste your time and energy.
Once you've made the reservation, contact the hotel directly to confirm that your reservation has been placed with them.
After a company's got your credit card number, plan on double-checking your credit card for unauthorized charges. This will allow you to take care of charges you believe are incorrect with the online booking company and your credit card company.
Making online travel plans for your hotel accommodations can be a problematic effort. Use the tips above to avoid some common mishaps that other users of online travel websites have faced to help make your online booking experience proceed as smoothly as possible.