Things you need to know before you book a hotel onlineWritten by Chloe Lim
Does it seem as if every time you look around on internet for a hotel room, you find more web sites that say you can get a hotel room for less? Though it may sound enticing, online hotel booking has its own set of challenges. An online discount hotel booking web site should provide following basic things: •Offer real time hotel room booking •Allow date amendments and cancellations online •Rates should clearly indicate what currency is being quoted, whether rate is per person or per room, and what is and what is not included in rate, and, if taxes are not included, how much they will be •The location information of hotel should be listed on hotel description page. This can help identify distance from hotel to certain landmarks or airport •All information regarding hotel (such as facilities and rates) should be located on each hotel's web page •Pictures of hotel •Star quality rating, consumer ratings with consumer reviews •Does online hotel booking site have a membership program (like http://www.ratestogo.com/membership) that offers reward points and privileges Checklist before and after you book a hotel room online If you follow this checklist, you're less likely to have nasty surprises in store for you: •Have you seen hotel on a map, and do you understand exact location? •Do you know what rate is, which currency it is quoted in, whether this rate is per person or per room, per night or per complete stay? •Do you understand standard/quality of hotel? •Does rate include everything or are taxes, surcharges, gratuities, service fees, etc, extra? How much are such extra costs if they exist? Are there any other mandatory costs that you might have to pay?
| | Following Links to HawaiiWritten by Dave Davis
I've often used Net for planning my personal and business trips. Trips to Australia, Hawaii, Seattle and Las Vegas, to name a few, are a cinch to plan on Net... If you know how to go about it. The main problem with Internet these days is that people often are overwhelmed by information overload.Many destinations have many sites covering details on vacationing there and Hawaii is no exception. In fact, Hawaii, as a travel destination, is covered by numerous websites covering everything from activities to mountain biking, and snorkeling to luaus. So many sites and so little time. Thought there are many activities, hotels and ways to get to Hawaii, they are limited and after a while you'll discover that many sites on various topics cover same ground. This is both good and bad: Good, in that you have numerous choices to choose from for look and feel and price. Let's face it, some sites are easier to navigate than others, while some also have better privacy statements and ease of contact. Also, competition generally keeps prices lower. The bad: Well, there's just so many choices and one can easily become overwhelmed. My suggestion here is not to try and visit every Hawaii travel website on planet, but to check out a few and stick with those you feel at ease with regarding navigation, product, pricing and privacy. There are many excellent Hawaii travel sites out there, so first thing to do is to target how you want to get there, where you want to stay and what you actually plan to do once you are there. If you're like most visitors to Islands these days, you'll arrive by air. If you have frequent flyer accounts, you'll likely choose one of those airlines, otherwise, leave this open until you have completed some rudimentary pricing. The quickest, but not always cheapest, is to book a non-stop flight. Cruises from Mainland are available, but are quite expensive and are generally round trip, round-island cruises, with little time actually on Islands. As for your planned activities, once your list is made, I would highly recommend checking out activity agents and when satisfied, book your day tours, dinner cruises and submarine tours, etc. in advance. Why? Well, depending on season--high or low--some of more popular activities can book out quickly, leaving you high and dry looking for alternatives. This leads me to: Do you really want to be spending your valuable vacation time calling around to book activities to fill your days with fun, culture and adventure. Also, reserving your activities allows for better insight on itinerary and what your trip to paradise is going to cost. Valuable, if you're on a tight timetable or budget.
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