El Cheapo

[markone]

Price is a factor right now and I am going to be staying off site for part of my stay in April. Has anyone stayed at Howard Johnson's Maingate East. They have an El Cheapo rate on now. Any advice would be helpful, thanks.

Mark

 

[mom42860]

This might be worth a look copied it from a thread a few back,

"canadian at par deals
go to http://www.orlandokissimmee.com/canada/atpar/index.cfm
Has a long list of all hotels, etc. with at-par deals. We booked Marriott Residence Inn this way at $81 U.S. per night for a 2-bdrm. suite. As always, it's subject to availability & varies from hotel to hotel.
Hope this helps.
Len S."

 

[coasterdann]

Check out www.ibidusa.com. You can get a 2 night stay at a # of Orlando hotels for under $50...just bid smart.

Dann

 

[emmalgin]

Nothing can ruin a vacation for us like crap accomodations.... With the # of hotels in Orlando, unless you are going high season, you can find great deals.

What is you budget???

 

[robinb]

Mark,

Also consider using Priceline. Check out www.biddingfortravel.com to get info on how to bid on PL for hotels everywere, including Orlando. You'll need to do something special when bidding from Canada, though.

 

[markone]

Thanks for all the great tips. To answer I would like to stay for 100 cdn which is about 60 US I believe.

 

[markone]

Has anyone taken a room through priceline or bidusa. Once you submit your amount you are willing to pay do you get to choose between choices that priceline finds for you. Or have you committed yourself once you bid.

Do I want it all or what ?

 

[daannzzz]

You bid on certain areas. You choose the "star" level of accomodation ( 1 star, 2 star, 3 star, 4 star and resort). At WDW the area know as "WDW vicinity" will get you closest. You put in a bid amount per night. you give them your credit card info, If your bid is accepted they will tell you what hotel/motel you have gotten and charge you credit card the full amount of your stay. You can not back out of the deal. If you don't like the hotel you got it is to bad ot you can just forfeit the money and choose a different place on your own and pay for that. It can be scary the first couple times you do it but I have always chosen 3-4 star places and never gotten a bad hotel.
If your bid is rejected your card doesn't get charged and you are given a chance change the parameter of the bid, like the star level or dates or area.
If you read the bidding for travel board at EZboard you will learn more. Be aware that the instructions there don't alway seem to make sense. After you have done priceline a few times it becomes clearer.

 

[tednvon]

Hi..Priceline example....our son bid a two star disney vicinity 3 weeks ago for 20 dollars a night..he got Sheraton Lakeside Four Points 2 miles from Disney...he said it was nice, not fancy, but 2 beds and a nice shower....For 60 bucks you can bid a resort or 4 star and stay really high class...it does work and it is for real....only concern is trying to stay with more than two people....They only guarantee for two.......my advice is do a three star and you will usually get a great place with no parking hassels or add ons that come at the really fancy Marriots or Wyndam Palaces............good luck...Ted

 

[markone]

Thanks for your help everyone. Checked out bidding for travel. Sounds exciting, like you could end up with a great place.

markone

 

[LeahA]

markone,

I did Priceline two times, once we were lucky enough to get the Wyndham Palace for $55.00 per night bidding for a 4 star-Disney area. Once we got the Rosen Centre for $35.00 per night bidding for a 3 star-Universal area. Remember, it's NON REFUNDABLE-NON CHANGEABLE, so definitely read all you can about Priceline before you bid. Another tip, don't get discouraged if your first bid is not accepted, I go up in usually $5.00 increments, at the Wyndham I bid $50.00, they didn't accept it, so then I bid $55.00 and they accepted it!

Good Luck!

Leah

 

[markone]

Thanks everybody,

I checked out the bidding for travel/priceline site. All kinds of reports about what people paid and other info. You can bid on airline tickets too. Since it is currently about $500 cdn to fly from Toronto I think I will be bidding on that as well.

Marrkone

 

[CarolynNC]

I love using priceline for hotels. I also find the biddingfortravel website a great place for information. If you decide to use priceline I recommend you read, reread, and reread once again all the information provided not only in the FAQ but the experiences of other bidders. You should also read the hotel reviews for information regarding resort fees & property offered. You need to factor the resort fees into your bidding budget. The one thing you must understand is this is all non-refundable so you need to make sure you're making an informed decision. It doesn't matter what your excuse, there is no refund. I try not to bid too far out in case something comes up which means I need to change my trip dates. Once you've secured your priceline hotel you can't make a change. Make sure when you start your bid you review all the information you've selected to make sure you didn't make a typo. Once you hit the buy button it doesn't matter if you accidently put in the wrong date, car type, star level, etc. Your bid is processed on the data you submit.

Priceline is great if you can be flexible. I may bite the bullet this time and try for airline tickets this summer. Before I bid I'm going to be sure I'll be satisfied with any of the flight times. There are quite a few flights with one layover and those change a 1'40" direct flight into a 3' to 4' flight. I'll have to decide how much my time is worth as compared to the added hassle.

Have a great vacation.

Carolyn