Booking a hotel online can be as easy as 1-2-3! There are many sites to choose from such as Orbitz, Expedia, Hotels.com, just to name a few. These sites are very easy to use. Just type in what city you want and the dates you will be there and hit search. Next you will see a list of different hotels/motels all at various prices. You choose which hotel you want, select it, enter in your personal information along with a credit card and you are booked! It's as simple as that!

If you are booking at a "name brand" hotel, you can also go to their site online and book your hotel there. Sometimes the hotel sites offer a discount if you book online, so be sure to check that out too.

But, my personal motto is "Never pay full price for a hotel room". There are other sites (Priceline and Hotwire) that will give you great deals on rooms. There are a few drawbacks though. Let me explain.

Unlike the other sites where you can pick a certain hotel, you can't with Priceline or Hotwire. You log into their system and let them know what city you will be visiting and what dates. You choose what level of "stars" (i.e. 2 star, 3 star hotels) and what area of the city you want and you name your price and put in your personal and credit card information. Then they search. Sometimes you are lucky, sometimes your not. You may have to choose another part of town and raise your price a bit, but you should still be able to book a room at a significant discount. Once accepted, the room is already paid for. Print out your receipt and you are ready to go.

I have had some great luck with Priceline. Once in Seattle, I wanted a 4 star hotel near the airport. I used Priceline and paid $40 for the night. When I called my travel agent and asked her how much she could get me a room for at that same hotel (with my discounts), she told me the cheapest room was $110. I saved $70. When my son got married, my Mom and I flew into Pittsburgh and spent the night before driving down to his wedding the next day. I used Priceline and paid $50 for the night. That room would have normally cost me over $100 a night. Just this past summer, my husband and I went to St Louis to a family reunion. We used Priceline to get a hotel downtown and we lucked out! We got a 4 star hotel with a room facing the Arch for pennies on the dollar (luckily there was no ballgame that weekend or we could not have gotten a room so cheap!). I have never had a bad experience or problem booking a room using Priceline. My rooms have always been very clean, very nice and very affordable!

If you are not picky about what hotel you stay in, I would highly suggest using sites such as Priceline and Hotwire. You may not get to stay in the exact hotel you want, but you will get something comparable.

Why pay full price when you don't have to!

Learn more about this author, Pam Hectorne.
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