Question regarding hotel booking engines such as Expedia for European Hotels

[CruiseVirginfromBrooklyn]

Hello all,

 

I have a question for those of you who have used Priceline.com, Expedia.com and Travelocity.com for booking your hotels overseas - I like the idea of "prepaying" for my hotel, this frees up my credit card for the cruise and shopping. I've used priceline, expedia, and travelocity in the USA without problem but, I'm a bit concerned about using them overseas. Anyone had any problems using these booking engines in Europe? And, yes, I know I'll be charged in Euro's and not dollars, that's one of the reasons I want to prepay. Any advice you can offer would be welcomed. Thanks.

 

Vinnie

[Leejnd4]

Well, you should know that most of the time, they don't actually charge your credit card until your stay, although that can vary. Right now it's a gamble -- is the Euro exchange rate going to go up or down between now and my cruise in May? So I don't know which way is better! I'm pretty sure, though, that if you ask them to go ahead and charge your card in advance, they would do so. After you make your booking, simply email or call the toll-free number of the booking service, and ask them to have the hotel go ahead and run the charge.

 

Anyway, I've used Expedia and Travelocity, as well as Orbitz, for booking hotels in Europe. I've had very good luck with all until, coincidentally, last night! Back in Sept. I'd booked a hotel for two nights pre-cruise in May in Funchal, Madeira. Last night I was checking the booking, and noticed that it said it was for 1, not 2 people! And I know for sure that I submitted it for two. I recall being surprised (and pleased) that the price was the same regardless of whether you had 1 or 2, because it included breakfast. So I called Travelocity, and they refused to fix the error and change it to 2. They called the hotel, and they now say that they will charge an additional 25 Eu per night for the 2nd person. Great. So I'm in the process of booking another hotel, only because I'm just so po'd at Travelocity and at that hotel for not honoring what they originally quoted me, and I don't want to give them my business.

 

A really good way to check for online bookings is to go to tripadvisor.com, and use the quick-check feature, which will show you the prices for a specific hotel from ALL the online booking services that serve that hotel. It's a great tool.

 

LeeAnne

[signman]

I used Priceline for a hotel stay in London recently and got a great price at a great hotel. Payment was made on my credit card immediately in US dollars, same as if you booked a US property. Check in at http://www.biddingfortravel.com

 

For Paris did not use PL because hotel list was pretty dismal. Using the reviews at Trip Advisor and prices from Expedia, I booked and prepaid with my credit card and was again charged immediately in dollars.

 

For a night in Southampton I had reserved in pounds, and by the time of my stay dollar had gone down, and actual cost was about $10 more than when I booked.

[Leejnd4]

I haven't actually tried Priceline for hotels in Europe -- they only serve limited cities over there, and I'm usually not staying in city they serve. Besides, I'm just not really comfortable not knowing what hotel I'll get, given the wide variance in styles, service, etc. I much prefer a hotel with an historic, antique look to it, rather than some upscale, modern, antiseptic-looking place. I did use Priceline for a trip to Hawaii recently -- based on the criteria, I'd narrowed it down to where I knew it had to be one of 4 or 5 resorts on Kaanapali Beach, and sure enough, it was! That worked out well.

 

Y'know, I have been charged up front for hotel reservations before, but I can't remember which service did it. Maybe it was Expedia. But the vast majority of times I've booked hotels online, they did not charge me until I checked out...the credit card was only for securing the room.

 

LeeAnne

[tinkerme1]

Which hotels are you interested in booking for London/Europe? Sometimes the actual hotel website has a better booking price than the other websites like Expedia, Hotwire, etc. We booked a great room, at a great price, which included VAT and breakfast for 70 Pounds less the other "great sites". Go figure. I do have some very good hotels to recommend if you are interested.

 

micknminy@aol.com

[Leejnd4]

Well, I'm currently trying to book a hotel for our pre-cruise stay in Funchal, Madeira in May. I'm already set for our post-cruise stay after embarkation at Civitavecchia -- you want to see a REALLY cool place? Check out http://www.castellodiproceno.it. :) I'm having trouble finding exactly what I want, but I'm looking everywhere I can, including all the online booking services, as well as the direct hotel websites themselves. I know what I want, but I just haven't gotten a response back from the hotel I'm interested in yet. And it doesn't use any online services.

 

I've booked hotels in Italy & Corsica where the price was the same whether you booked it direct, or used Orbitz or Expedia. In those cases, I preferred to use the online service, as I felt more comfortable putting my credit card number into cyberspace on their site, rather than the hotel's site. But if I could save a buck going direct, believe me I would!

 

Btw, this is not an RCL cruise, so I probably shouldn't be posting this on this board, but I just popped in here to help answer the OP's questions. :)

 

LeeAnne