TRAVEL IDEAS Discount Hotel Rates To Be Found Online (NAPSA)—AII across the U.S., hotel occupancy levels are at their lowest in decades, meaning hotels have more rooms available than ever. For the consumer, this can mean big discounts, as hotels discount aggressively to sell the empty rooms. It also means trav- elers can “buy up”—that is, stay at a nicer hotel for a lower price— if they know how and whereto search. Increasingly, the “where”part of the equation is the Internet. According to comScore Networks, online travel sites booked $14.8 billion in sales in the first six months of 2002, up 71 percent compared with thefirst half of 2001. The biggest discounts on hotel rooms are generally found through Web sites like Hotwire, which partner with major hotels to sell empty rooms. Hotwire even guar- antees the lowest hotel rates available, through its “double the difference” low price guarantee. The Website offers these tips for saving moneyon hotel rooms: * Use the Internet. The Internet allows you to check several Web sites and hotel types, and compare for yourself. Avoid bidding sites, as you can often overpayif you bid too high. Search big cities. Metropolitan areas like New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles are still hurting from the post-9/11 drop in business travel. Luxury hotels in these cities often have the most empty rooms, and When you save big on hotel accommodations, you get more vacation for your money. thus can post big savings on discountsites. Be flexible. Sites like Hotwire lets you choose the exact neighborhood, star rating and type of hotel...but you don’t know the name of the hotel (Hilton, Weston, etc.) until after purchase. Flexibility like this can save you up to 70 percent off the hotel’s published rate. Play around with dates. In big business cities, including a Saturday night stay often brings the price down. But in weekend vacation areas, like Las Vegas, the lowest prices can often be found by searching during the week, when fewer tourists are visiting. To learn more, or to book a vacation stay, visit discount travel Web site www.hotwire.com.
