Webmaster Conventions - Do You Buy Your Hotel / Airfare Online?

[Lee]

Interesting question, i know that whenever a convention we are attending is coming up we tend to buy our airfare and room fares online but do the rest of you?

If you do buy them online, which travel site do you use or, do you go to the hotels / airlines sites directly for pricing and ordering?

What about shopping around for the best prices? Do you do that also or just take the first price you see on whichever site you visit first to book for the show?

Regards,

Lee

[JustBryce]

We used Orbitz, Travelocity, and Expedia a lot for hotel, car, and airlines back in the day. Now we have a concierge at Amex who handles everything for us. Its nice because we just give her the dates and she takes care of the rest of it. She knows what kind of rooms we want, what kind of car, where we get amenities, what airlines we get upgraded on, etc. Its enough of a hassle anymore to just get your brochures and give-aways organized. Its nice not having to worry over the travel aspects.

If I'm just doing a quick trip then i'll often look on Orbitz for the lowest fare and then book directly at that airline to get the milege bonuses for booking direct and because its easier to confirm upgrades directly with the airline.

My brother was telling me that priceline has changed a lot over the years and that you can get some really good and cheap stuff through them now. Its not like the old days when you weren't exactly sure what you would end up with he said.

[Madame0120]

I search for pricing on-line, but generally make reservations by phone. We decided unless forced, we would be road tripping it everywhere. As a whole, the airline industry sucks wind!

I miss the good old days of flying-when lil ole ladies didn't get patted down like criminals and a pair of tweezers in your carry on didn't earn you a trip to Strip Search Land. :eek: Ack .. sorry about the left turn around the thread.

Anyway .. I like the convience of on line shopping, but for travel I prefer a real person for reservations. If the logistics are convoluted, I confirm with the hotel facility directly.

So wave to us in Phoenix - doubt there will be many other midnight blue full- sized V-8 Chevy Caprise wagons with whore wheel covers and rasied white letter tires toolin' thought Az.

:mexican: All it needs is an 8 pack of speakers!

[CashAddict]

a pair of tweezers in your carry on didn't earn you a trip to Strip Search Land

Ah, so that's what I need to take with me next time - tweezers! (I've always liked the idea of being strip searched at the airport!)

[dirtygeek]

Madame, something tells me you are far from one of those "lil ole ladies".

When I travel anywhere I would always buy it online. I mostly used CheapTickets.com and Orbitz.com. I was always able to find some great deals.

I miss the good old days of flying-when lil ole ladies didn't get patted down like criminals and a pair of tweezers in your carry on didn't earn you a trip to Strip Search Land. :eek: Ack .. sorry about the left turn around the thread.

[gaybucks_chip]

For airfares, I use SideStep.com, which is a meta-search tool that searches Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, and a couple others, as well as JetBlue, Southwest, and several other airlines that don't participate in the major travel brokers. I've found, almost without exception, that it can uncover fares that simply can't be found anywhere else. If those fares are still too high, Priceline's bid-for-travel will still sometimes deliver a good deal.

For hotels, if it's for a convention, we usually bite the bullet and pay the less-than-ideal rate negotiated by whomever is sponsoring the convention, so that we can stay in the center of activity. Otherwise, I've found Priceline can sometimes have extraordinary deals, and second to that, SideStep can pull up whomever has the best deals among the major chains, Travelocity, etc.

If we have a choice of airlines, we will always choose Southwest. They are almost never late, almost never cancel flights, and have nearly without exception provided absolutely superb service, which is more than I can say for any of the other airlines. (JetBlue is good too.)

[Madame0120]

Madame, something tells me you are far from one of those "lil ole ladies".

Shhhh Andy .. it works for me .. `specially when some knucklehead airline "security" employee asks me to raise my blouse to see my waist band. I do that look I'm told I have and nicely ask to be taken someplace pvt if they care go see any more of my flesh.

I hate being touched by strangers who always seem to pick me out of line, just to prove they don't profile. I'll take off my shoes .. allow them to rummage through my personal things ... twice .. and l supress my desire to pinch the idiot that took my perfectly packed sundries and made them into a clusterfuck. But no one is gona check my underwear while a line of other flying sheep look on. I'll slow walk the fuckers in a heart beat.

Ahhh but that's all moot - I'll be road trippin' until I have to fly across the BigPond - even then maybe a boat would suit me better.

OMG! I do babble on sometimes .. a true Sign of The Geezer.

Anyway Andy dear .. lets make sure we have each other's cell #s. We will be there on Wed and staying in Tempe - both roy and I would be delighted to meet you. Shoot I wana beat .. er meet the whole lot of you :goof:

[Madame0120]

Ah, so that's what I need to take with me next time - tweezers! (I've always liked the idea of being strip searched at the airport!)

Humm .. not too difficult a scene to arrange to should think. I'll check my hotel room and see if there's a closet I could jerry rig and achive some ambiance. Gosh .. I wasn't planning on packing costumes .. guess I could use a little poetic licence and blindfold you.
:honest:

Good heavens .. I'm trolling young gay men again. Good thing I'm heading out to the dungeon tonight- I think I need to let out my arm and lay out this mood on some poor boy's (who is over the age of consent) fortunate behind. :whip:

[dirtygeek]

HAHA you are to cute. :goof: Hit me up on ICQ and I'll give you my cell. I've been meaning to give it to you.

P.S. You should make Dr. Dick come too. He needs a good spanking!

Shhhh Andy .. it works for me .. `specially when some knucklehead airline "security" employee asks me to raise my blouse to see my waist band. I do that look I'm told I have and nicely ask to be taken someplace pvt if they care go see any more of my flesh.

I hate being touched by strangers who always seem to pick me out of line, just to prove they don't profile. I'll take off my shoes .. allow them to rummage through my personal things ... twice .. and l supress my desire to pinch the idiot that took my perfectly packed sundries and made them into a clusterfuck. But no one is gona check my underwear while a line of other flying sheep look on. I'll slow walk the fuckers in a heart beat.

Ahhh but that's all moot - I'll be road trippin' until I have to fly across the BigPond - even then maybe a boat would suit me better.

OMG! I do babble on sometimes .. a true Sign of The Geezer.

Anyway Andy dear .. lets make sure we have each other's cell #s. We will be there on Wed and staying in Tempe - both roy and I would be delighted to meet you. Shoot I wana beat .. er meet the whole lot of you :goof:

[AusCoding Allan]

I tend to book all my domestic travel online however if I'm going overseas I prefer to use a travel agent - they can generally provide pretty good deals but it also gives you a person who can provide help if you get stuck whilst overseas.

Cheers,

Allan

[Corey Bryant]

Usually online but mainly go to the site where we will be staying. Heard way too many horror stories about the travel sites and sometimes how you might not get the room, etc.

[IntenseCash.com]

I make all my reservations online through the main places like Travelocity, Orbitz etc.

Mark