Tag: Best Hotel Discounts

Rate Parity and what you don’t know about booking travel online

by hotelsetc, posted in vacations

Finding the best hotel discounts is no longer an easy task and if the truth be known, it’s no longer possible to find any genuine discounts on a traditional booking engine. Yes, they are still popular and the most common means on which most travelers will reserve their accommodation, but make no mistake, Expedia, Orbitz and every other travel booking engine no longer offer the same value to customers as before.

Many online users are unaware this is the case and that standard booking engines are an outdated way to book travel without any genuine discount or value. But why has this happened and what is the alternative solution?

Rate parity

Great changes in the online travel industry

Although this is something you may not have heard about, a recent law called “Rate Parity” has greatly affected the market for booking engines as this new legislation stipulates every travel brand must keep the price of accommodation the same across all channels of distribution. What does this mean? It means Expedia and other large brands cannot offer an alternative cost to the price on any of their other websites. In a more specific sense, rate parity means the traditional booking engines can no longer offer hotel rooms or any other travel related service at a discounted price.

Why do online users still use these booking engines?

Good question. Booking engines are known to offer a user friendly and convenient experience but more to the point, it would seem online users are just simply in the habit of using what was once the only means of booking their travel online. Thing is, you really do need to ask yourself; why book with a travel booking engine when you can book direct with the hotel for the same price? Furthermore, why book with either of the above when you can book for less with a Travel membership club?

travel discounts

Travel Membership clubs

Once the most popular way to book discounted travel back in the early 1990’s, travel membership clubs have been finding their way back to the forefront of the travel industry in recent times. Rate parity is the reason for this, for membership clubs are the one exemption to the rules which have all but taken away the ability of a traditional booking engine to offer genuine value.

Hotels Etc – 25 years of exceptional service

Hotels Etc is the leading travel membership club in North America with a five star reputation spanning 25 years. User friendly and highly convenient, this is a booking engine but with a stark contrast; every listing represents a discount on the usual price. Ranging anywhere from 40 – 70%, these discounts are incredible value and are testament to the fact Travel Membership clubs are the one best way to find travel discounts online.

Why pay more, when you can pay less? Check out Hotels Etc now and start saving on your next overnight stay or long anticipated vacation.

Packing for a Caribbean Vacation

by hotelsetc, posted in vacation, vacations

You’ve booked the flights, you’ve got a place to stay (thanks to those sweet hotel discounts you found online), and now all that stands in front of you and laying on the beach on your soon-to-be-fabulous Caribbean vacation is the dreaded thing we all try to put off as long as possible — packing. But, don’t worry too much about it, getting everything together and shoved into those old bags you still haven’t replaced won’t be nearly as hard as you might think. So take a breath, close your eyes, imagine yourself snorkeling with all kinds of different magical-looking fish, and let’s do this.

Packing for a Caribbean Vacation

Old bags with CAMERA

No Passport Needed

There are some interesting things you need to know about getting into the Caribbean as far as passports and visas go. First off, if you’re American and a full-fledged U.S. citizen, you don’t need to have a passport if you’re flying into Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, which includes the trifecta of St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Croix — the others require you to have more than basic U.S. IDs (driver’s license, etc.). If you’re hopping on a cruise, you can actually visit more of the islands without a passport, but be sure to double-check where you’re going before assuming you’re all good.

Caribbean Weather

Another important thing to thing to do before you start packing is familiarizing yourself with the weather happening for wherever and whenever you’re traveling in the Caribbean. There’s not a lot of major differences between the temperatures from one to the other and the average temperatures are around 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit most days, but depending on the month you’re traveling you might have more or less rain, which is a good to know. Brief showers happen nearly every day on most of the islands, too but not enough to pack any legit rain gear.

Vacation discount

Packing Light

It’s easier said than done, but thanks to the consistently hot climate, the Caribbean is a place where less is more. In fact, many people who are traveling for a week or less easily get away with packing a couple of carry-ons, wearing a light jacket, and keeping it simple. Depending on your needs (I know, shoes)  and length of stay you could easily get away with not checking any bags, which would also save you a lot of hassle and potential delays if you’re flying.

Your Itinerary Determines Your Needs

Are you planning on doing some hiking? You’ll need some active clothes and a pair of good rubber-soled shoes that can give you the support you need. Are you just going to lounge on the beach all day and drink cocktails? You can probably get away with packing not much more than a couple of swimsuit options, flip-flops, and one or two pairs of shorts or dresses to wear when you’re not listening to the waves. There’s no one perfect list for this since each trip is unique, but think through what you’ll be spending your time doing and pack accordingly.

Toiletries

Your toiletry needs will pretty much be the same, but you might want to throw in some extra sunscreen, lip balm, or aloe/lotion depending on your plans to get out into the wild or your skin tone. It’s going to be hot and sunny most of the time, so ease into it and remember, you can always get more sun the next day, but it’s hard to deal with a really bad sunburn.

Gadgets

Last, but definitely not least, don’t forget to pack in your cameras, selfie-sticks, GoPros, Kindles, or any other electronics that you feel like you can’t live without. You’ll probably want to keep the phone off as much as possible, but it’s your Caribbean vacation, not mine, so you can do whatever you want.

Are you actually getting the best prices for hotels?

by hotelsetc, posted in Home, hotel discounts

Nothing scream louder from the rooftops than a special offer and we should know this having amassed several million members in the past 25 years of providing the largest hotel discounts you can find anywhere in the online world. You might think that sounds a little too good to be true or a slight exaggeration of some kind but given that we offer a free trial to any prospective member, you should feel assured that we encourage you to come find out for yourself.

But why have you not heard of Hotels Etc until now?

Good question. Hotelsetc.com was first established in the mid 1990’s when, believe it or not, there was no such thing as a booking engine and travel clubs were the only real option for anyone looking for discounts on hotels or any other travel related services. Back then there was no real internet presence of course and so competition in every region was mostly confined to travel agents or hotlines but nevertheless, Hotels Etc was still established as a market leader and the number one place to find hotel discounts in particular.

hotel discounts

So what changed recently?

The online world changed everything of course but there is also a new law which has change things further again. Over the past 10 years any company or individual was enabled to advertise hotel rooms on a website in return for a commission from the hotel itself which in turn brought about the birth of Expedia, Orbitz and all the other major brands. Except until recently, there were a million other booking engines offering the best hotel discounts and inevitably, the initial lack of presence online for us (Hotels Etc) combined with mass saturation in this particular market would allow the big brands to take over. You may have noticed the words “Until recently” in italics above? You see, unknown to most consumers, a major shift in regulations has resulted in a in stark change with regard to online bookings in the travel industry which directly relate to pricing. The law of “rate parity” has effectively meant that these websites can no longer offer discounts to customers like they once did and thankfully for us, travel clubs were exempt from this new law.

In case that’s not clear enough, travel clubs are now the only way you can find genuine discounts online.

Come see why millions of customers have stayed with us for 25 years

We are only scratching the surface here of course because our service extends far beyond hotel rooms and when you add this to our customer service or incredible search engine, you will be a lot closer to understanding why millions of our customers are still with us today. Free trail or jump straight in, the choice is yours but either way, welcome to Hotels Etc.

hotels etc

You can get signed up right away by clicking here and starting uncovering all the amazing hotel discounts we offer our members.

Las Vegas or Orlando? The best Vacation special offer in 2016

by hotelsetc, posted in vacation

As if anyone needs another reason to take a Las Vegas vacation or visit the sunny home of Disney and co. Except for arguments sake, let’s just say you are having a hard time getting some money together, that you are unsure of where to go exactly or hesitant about using up some precious vacation leave; Hotels Etc. are here with the best vacation special offer in 2016 to rid you of any procrastination and help you decide on just taking that vacation regardless of what else is going on.

Yes, the king of hotel discount North America has just announced the most incredible special offers which will take their loyal travel club members on a once in a lifetime adventure for just $199. Lasting 4 days and offering every single bit of value that any other trip to Vegas or Orlando promises, these 4 day packages can be extended to 7 days for $100 extra or be taken just as they come. You want to know the best thing about it? There’s no catch, you simply sign up with your contact details here and start looking forward to an incredible break from the norm.

Orlando

These much sought after travel hubs need no introduction either, whether you take the kids with you or just want to get away for a few days with a partner, there are so many attractions and things to do in Orlando and Las Vegas. In fact, it’s almost always the case that you need to choose which attractions to miss out on when time is short but then, as mentioned above, you can always avail of a few days extra to enjoy the amenities.

We wrote earlier this week about the special vacation offer for Mexico and as you can see, the same great value applies to more than just the sunny destination down south. In this sense, what more reasons do you need not to go on vacation? With costs at rock bottom and incredible destinations all included in the packages, there really is no need to wait around any longer wondering if you deserve a break from work or what many of us know as civilization.

In case you might be wondering, the process is also as simple as could be and all we require to start getting your dream vacation booked is some contact details. With that said, you should jump over to the special offer page now to take a closer look at these great deals and make sure you are not imagining the prices we listed above.

One last thing people, we are proud to be helping millions of members from all over North America for the past 20 years and we have no plans to stop providing the best hotel discounts and more anytime soon, so get signed up, feel at home and start looking forward to finding even more of the best online travel deals in the future.

Get your dream vacation now!

Save

Researchers explain why planning a vacation can make you Happy

by hotelsetc, posted in travel tips

Vacations are fun, we all know that, we all want more of them and some of us will almost live for them. But do they make you happier? It might seem like a question with an obvious answer but a group of researchers in the Netherlands set out to answer this precise question while also determine what it is exactly that causes someone to feel this way.

Almost 2,000 adults took part in the research, half of which had taken a vacation during the previous year and the results threw up a very interesting point. Yes, there were no surprises that these people experienced happiness while on the trip, whether they were relaxing next to the pool, swimming at the beach, eating out in a fine restaurant or sipping cocktails as the sun went down but what about afterward or what about before?

“The practical lesson for an individual is that you derive most of your happiness from anticipating the holiday trip,” said Jeroen Nawijn head of the research. “What you can do is try to increase that by taking more trips per year. If you have a two week holiday you can split it up and have two one week holidays. You could try to increase the anticipation effect by talking about it more and maybe discussing it online.”

You see, much of the findings for this research pointed to the fact that most adults felt relaxed returning from their vacation, they felt energized and rejuvenated but what they did not expect, was to learn how extremely happy these same people felt when planning a vacation. That’s right, the research showed that the longest, most prolonged and enjoyable part of their trip was the actual part of planning a vacation. Marveling at wanderlust inducing photographs online, imagining how relaxing it would be on the beach, checking the best places to stay in the Caribbean and then of course, looking for the best hotel discounts, vacation deals and general value. People felt good about being able to find the best online travel deals, joining travel membership clubs for cruise discounts and knowing that they had found the best place to stay at the best price.

So there you have it in black and white, planning a vacation is just as good for your health and will make you just as happy, as being on the vacation itself. We can’t say we are surprised as for more than 25 years now we taken great pleasure from finding the best hotel discounts for our members here at Hotels Etc. We know that people will always appreciate a good deal when we find one and keep coming back so long as we keep offering the best value vacations. So what are you waiting for? It might be a few weeks, a month or even a year until your next time off but why should that stop you from feeling happy, start planning your vacation and get signed up for a travel membership with Hotels Etc.