Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Top Tour Ops & Reservations Services
There are more, but to my mind these companies have offered the most consis-
tent values over the years:
For air/hotel packages:
u
Southwest Airlines Vacations
(www.swavacations.com;
%
800/243-2372)
u
Funjet Vacations
(www.funjet.com;
%
888/558-6654)
u
Worry Free Vacations
(best from midwest and western states; www.worry
freevacations.com;
%
888/225-5658)
u
Leisure Link
(best from eastern and southern states; www.eleisurelink.com;
%
888/801-8808)
For hotels only:
u
Hotels.com
(www.hotels.com;
%
800/246-8357)
u
Travelworm
(www.travelworm.com;
%
888/700-8342)
u
Accommodations Express
(www.accommodationsexpress.com;
%
800/444-
7666)
sign that something's going on in town and all of your bargaining won't get you
a bargain.
Just as important—do your research first: Visit one of the top “aggregator”
sites (websites that are not selling travel, but instead simply “aggregating” travel
information, much as Google does for general information). I always recommend
Travelaxe
(www.travelaxe.com)
for this purpose, as it's a mighty powerful engine,
but because it must be downloaded (scary to some) and is only useable on PCs,
you can also turn to such worthy alternatives as
Sidestep
(www.sidestep.com),
Mobissimo
(www.mobissimo.com),
or
Kayak
(www.kayak.com).
While these three
don't always perform the deep search Travelaxe does, they will give you a more
extensive and impartial search (with no booking fees, either) than the Orbitzes
and Expedias of this world.
If you're feeling really sneaky, surf over to Biddingfortravel.com. Normally
used by those planning to bid for hotel nights on Priceline.com, the site is not
affiliated with that company. Instead average Joes post what their “winning bid”
was for a room on a particular date, to help others who might be bidding. It will
tell you which big hotels are accepting low bids and which dates are most fruitful
for bargaining. The site also posts many of the discounted rate codes for the major
casino-hotels, which can sometimes net visitors serious discounts and/or freebies.
Once you figure out how much the going rate online is, call the hotel directly.
You can use the toll-free number if you've chosen one of the big Strip casinos, but
if you're going for one of the chains in town (Motel 6, Travelodge, Marriott), call
the local number, as only the managers on-property will have the authority to play
“let's make a deal.” Be nice, be friendly, be downright charming, but don't beat
around the bush. Tell them that you'd sure like to give your business to hotel X, but
you can't pay more than such and such a price. Stand firm and see what happens.
