Bargain Moose

Over on the Priceline Negotiator facebook page, they mention a great little deal for bonus cash! You can claim a coupon for at least $5 discount on your hotel spend, when you are using the “name your own price” hotel booking feature.

• Click here to claim your Priceline bonus cash

• Click here to book online @ Priceline Canada
  

Now, this isn’t a normal discount offer, where it’s a flat rate of $5 discount. Instead, it’s an extra $5 credit on the name your own price feature. This excerpt explains it quite well:

We will add the Bonus Cash to your offer price to increase your chances of getting your eligible Name Your Own Price Hotel at a great price! As an example: If your Bonus Cash amount breaks down to $5 per night, and you name a price of $25 per night for a hotel reservation, we will submit your offer price as $30 per night. If your request is accepted, you will only be charged your original price of $25 per night, plus taxes and fees.

There are a few terms and conditions of this offer:

• You must book before April 16, 2010
• Valid on 3, 3.5, and 4-star hotels
• Stay at least two nights
• Valid for Name Your Own Price hotels
• Save $5/room per night up to $25

Now, I have written a pretty detailed Priceline guide here, which many people have made use of over the past year, and saved quite a bit of money on their hotel bookings. If you plan on booking a hotel soon, use this bonus cash deal in conjunction with my Priceline guide and make sure you get a mega-bargain for your vacation!

I was browsing Expedia.ca, looking and dreaming about some lovely exotic destination, and I saw that they have a special offer on their European accommodation and package deals. You can save up to 30% on your vacation if you book before the 7th of May 2010.

• Click here to see the Europe hotel deals @ Expedia.ca

(Book by 7th May, travel between 1st May and 31st December 2010)

The offers are for hotels all over, from Iceland to Ireland (both of which I have visited)!  You can see the average prices for the hotels, as well as some package deals. the package deals are based on a 7 day round trip from Vancouver or Toronto, so it might be worth looking at that and seeing if it is a good bargain.  Just as an example, a 7 night package in Paris would start at about $1156… sounds good to me!

Anyway, if you are planning a European trip this spring or summer, it’s worth looking on Expedia to see if you can find a good deal.

At participating hotels around the world, when you book through Expedia Canada, you could get your 3rd, 4th, or 5th night free.

• Click here for Expedia Spring Free Room Night

Book by 13th April 2020 for travel completed by 30th April 2010. Look for the yellow tag to indicate participating hotels. Free night depends on hotel, room type, travel dates, and length of stay.

Having a 3rd night free world be perfect for a little weekend vacation either across the border or a nearby town or city. This year has already proven to be very busy, take a break anywhere in the world!

Here’s a Hotels.ca discount code for you! It gets you a 10% discount off certain hotels if you are booking online.

Click here to use the Hotels.ca discount code online

• Coupon Code: ACDE4ESTR
• Discount: 10% off Marriott, Harrahs, MGM, Starwood
• Expires: 30th April 2010

Sadly, it’s only a few select hotels, but hopefully if you are googling for a hotels.ca discount code for one of those, then I will have saved you a few dollars!

NOTE: this coupon code also works online when you are booking a hotel on the Air Canada website! The system must use the hotels.ca engine, and the coupon code also applies for discount there.

Kindly Bargainmooser Louise recently emailed me with a coupon code discovery she has made. Apparently, the Hotels.ca discount code which I posted on the 7th of March also works for a discount on hotels bookings on the Aircanada website!

Click here to book hotels @ Aircanada

• Coupon Code: BE10DSCTOFF
• Discount: 10% off

The expiry date of the coupon code for Hotels.ca was the 15th of March 2010, but I am not sure if the same terms apply to this one for Aircanada. I’ll try and check the coupon code the day after and see if it is still working. Let me know if you find out please.

This is a discount code which you can use to get yourself an extra 10% off your hotel booking at Hotels.ca.

Click here to use the Hotels.ca discount code online

• Discount code: BE10DSCTOFF
• Discount: 10% off
• Expires: 15th March 2010
• Travel by: 30th April 2010

How to use: When you have chosen your hotel, and clicked the “book” tab, you will see a space on the next page saying “enter discount code.” Simply paste the code in and you will see the discount appear at the checkout page.

I know 10% isn’t a humungous discount by any means, but if you happen to be booking a hotel anyway, you might as well take advantage of the discount code, and keep a few extra dollars to yourself.

If you are planning a romantic getaway for Valentine’s Day, here’s a great deal on a coupon code for Hotels.ca. You can get a 15% discount on your hotel booking!

Click here to use this Hotels.ca coupon code online

• Coupon Code: CAEML110
• Discount: 15% off
• Expires: 5th February 2010
• Travel by: 31st December 2010

When you are at the payment stage of checkout, you should see a box at the top saying “discount code.” Click it, enter the code, and you should see the total cost drop by 15%.

While I have mentioned Valentine’s Day above, the coupon code is actually vaild for any trip booked up to the 31st of December 2010.

Planning on travelling? Use this coupon code with you book your hotel through Hotels.ca for a 10% discount.

Click here to use the Hotels.ca 10% off Coupon Code

• Coupon Code: SDHTL16
• Discount: 10%
• Expires: January 18^th, 2010

Go as far as Australia or stay close to home at Niagara Falls. This deal is perfect for a little Valentine’s Day Getaway.

Take lots of pictures and let us know how your trip went.

This is a voucher code for Expedia Canada, which can be used if you are making a hotel booking online.

Click here to use the Expedia Canada voucher code online

• Voucher Code: CASave25
• Discount: $25 off a 2 night hotel stay
• Expires: 30th November 2009
• Travel to: 21st December 2009

The voucher code will get you a $25 discount off your hotel stay, as long as it is 2 nights or more. Better than nothing!

I’ve booked with Expedia a few times. Sometimes I find their prices are higher than other places, but I have also found great prices there too.

The Holiday Inn hotels and resorts throughout Canada has a good deal for families. Kids eat free – here are the details:

• Click here for more info on the Holiday Inn offer

The deal is that if you are eating in the hotel restaurant and dining from the regular menu, kids under 12 eat for free!

Usually for these kind of restaurant offers, they allow 1 child per adult, but from reading the terms and conditions, I don’t think that is the case here. It states: Limit 4 kids per dining family. So that would lead me to assume that even if there was only mom and dad, the 4 kids could still eat for free.

If you’re holidaying on a budget, this might be just the type of deal to sway a family to book with The Holiday Inn, instead of another chain of hotels.

If you’re planning a hotel break any time soon, Westin Hotels are one to consider. They’re currently running a special promo if you book online or by phone.

Click here to see the details of this offer @ Westin Hotels

• Coupon Code: ZBT

The deal is this – for every night that you pay the regular rate, you get 50% off the second night. The deal doesn’t only last for 2 nights though – it is applicable in multiples. For example, booking 4 nights means you get 2 at half price, booking 6 nights means you get 3 for half price.

The promo lasts until the end of December 2009.

I’m spending Christmas in Las Vegas. A friend is getting married there, so my partner and I just decided to make a trip of it. And I think I will try out the $20 trick in my hotel! Not everyone has heard of the $20 trick, so I’ll do a quick blog post to tell you about it.

What is the $20 trick?

I hear you ask, what is the $20 trick? The $20 trick is a method of getting free (?) upgrades for your hotel rooms.

How do you do it?

Easy! When you are checking in, slip the desk clerk a $20 bill, and ask “Are there any complementary upgrades available?” If there are upgrade available, hopefully they will keep your tip and give you a “free” hotel upgrade during your stay.

You can also embellish the wording a little bit if you like, and if you have a good excuse. “Would you happen to have any free upgrades available? “Insert name here” and I are celebrating our “insert event here.”

Handing over the cash

I’ve seen tips on the internet of various tactful ways of handing over the $20 bill. You could slip it inside your passport if you are showing that for ID, or you could wrap the money round your credit card, when you are passing that over.

Just make sure the $20 bill is visible while the front desk clerk is allocating your room.

If the clerk doesn’t have any room upgrades available, they will more than likely hand you back the money. Even if they keep it and don’t give you the room upgrade – you’ve just lost your first bet in Las Vegas!!

But if you were successful, it’s not too shabby if you manage to score a great upgrade for only $20!

Tips:

Don’t be shy or embarrassed, the clerks have probably seen this a million times, especially in Las Vegas hotels.

Always be polite and nice, this trick is just a possibility, not a right.

Which hotels will do it?

The $20 trick is most commonly known for being used for Las Vegas hotel upgrades, and is therefore sometimes known as “The Vegas Trick.” If you’ve got a great hotel deal there from following my Priceline Canada tutorial or perhaps from Hotels.ca, then you can try and make the deal a little bit sweeter with the tipping trick.

Perform a quick Google search for the name of your hotel and the $20 trick keywords. You should be able to see if someone has been successful with the method, and has posted about it on the internet. For example, here on Flyertalk, armeee successfully used the $20 trick at the Sahara in Las Vegas.

Most of the successes are reported from the North American hotels. I haven’t seen many reports of it working in Canadian hotels, but I reckon you could give it a try in the major cities.

What shall I do…!

I’m going to book a hotel through Priceline’s Name Your Own Price feature. When I find out the name, I’m going to do a bit of research and see if there is a good chance of getting a room upgrade with this trick. Although, I am staying for a week, so I might see if I have to turn it into a $50 trick!

This is another special travel deal for the Visa cardholders. If you’re thinking of staying at one of the Fairmont Hotels, you can get an extra $50 discount per night!

• Click here to book online @ Fairmont Hotels

The deal is that you can get $50 off per night, but depending on which hotel you are staying at, the deal might only last for 2 or 3 nights. You can see the full list of hotels, and the full terms and conditions on the page above.

There are quite a few locations across Canada, so this might be a lovely hotel to stay at if you were going to treat yourself.

Offer valid 1 September 2008 through 31 December 2009 when you book the ‘$50 Off Nights” rate.  (2) participating hotels offering – stay a minimum of 2 nights to receive a maximum of $100 off per stay.   (3) participating hotels offering – stay a minimum of 3 nights to receive a maximum of $150 off per stay.   Subject to availability at time of reservation. Blackout dates apply.

If you’re booking a hotel room any time soon, Orbitz.com is one place to check out the prices. I’ve found a 10% discount code, so if you’re going to book through them, you can get a little bit of a deal. Here are the details:

• Click here to use the Orbitz coupon code online

• Orbitz Coupon Code: DEAL0HOTEL
• Discount: 10% off
• Expires: 31st December 2009

How to use: When doing a hotel search, enter the promo code in the slot provided. Then, when the list of hotel deals appears, you can see all the applicable deals with a little green banner underneath each one, saying “Orbitz special offer, save 10% on your stay.”

Here’s what I recommend – do your search WITHOUT entering the promo code and compare the prices. Sometimes there are other special offers which might work out better for you, but the coupon code negates those. For example, 3 night for the price of 2 promos could be a better deal. Just make sure you do your research before clicking “buy.”

I’ve just noticed that Orbitz also have a “price assurance” policy. This sounds quite good – you make your booking and if another Orbitz customer books the same thing at a cheaper price, Orbitz send you a cheque for the difference. This is all done automatically, you don’t need to make a claim. Although, for the hotel deals, I wonder what the terms and conditions are. Does the other customer have to book the exact same days as you for you to qualify for the promo? Well… if you’ve ever experienced this, let me know below.

Thanks to u07ch!

Travelodge Canada have a nice hotel deal on the go right now. You can get a 50% discount on your 2nd night when you follow the instructions below!

Click here to book online @ Travelodge Canada

• Promo code: SGL
• Deal: 50% off 2nd night

You can either book online at the above web page, or call Travelodge reservations at 1-800-578-7878 and quote the Honey of a Hotel Deal offer, stating the promo code above.

There are a few terms and conditions associated with this Travelodge hotel deal:

The 50% discount will be applied at the completion of your stay. Available only at participating properties in Canada. Only a limited number of rooms will be offered at the “Honey of a Hotel Deal”, rate and may not be available during certain high seasons, holidays or special events. Offer not valid in connection with other special rates, discounts or programs or in connection with meetings, conventions or groups. 50% discount applies only to standard room charges (single or double occupancy) and does not apply to food, beverages, other incidentals, service charges or taxes. Extra person charges may apply. To qualify for the “Honey of a Hotel Deal” rate, a guest must stay consecutive nights at the same hotel.