Pay what you want for hotels !
A newly opened hotel in Singapore is letting customers pay whatever they want for stays. The Ibis hotel on Bencoolen is running a promotion for stays until the middle of March where some lucky guests can pay what they want for their stay. The hotel has a massive 538 rooms so it's easy to imagine they can afford to give away rooms in this way. The free marketing they will get in newspapers and blogs like this will more than pay for what they are "losing" on the room revenue.
It would be interesting to see how much people pay and whether people who stay for free are more inclined to pay for meals and mini-bar etc. I think I would.
Curious to see how much I could build my own package to Singapore for I had a quick look at Singapore Airlines just now, it will cost around £500 all told for a return flight to Singapore. Maybe I will wait until airlines start letting customers pay what they want for flights !
Hat tip : The pay what you want phenonenom first published on affiliate marketing for travel industry
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Reccommended Paris Apartments
Apartments in and around Paris
If you are looking for apartments in Paris for a holiday PV-Holidays website deserves a visit. I hadn't heard of them but a friend of mine used an apartment from them for a Disney trip last Autumn. Staying in an apartment or aparthotel beats a standard hotel room hands down. I should know, working in the travel industry all my life I have lived in a few hotels in my time, and the novelty soon wears off. I am even writing this from an aparthotel in Spain. What's great with an apartment is the extra space ( in general ), but most of all having a kitchen.
Having a kitchen, fridge and microwave is especially important when you have kids. You can save a lot of money doing your own food and snacks. When travelling as a family I find it's the snacks and drinks that mount up so if you can e.g. boil a couple of eggs before you go out for the day it really helps.
Anyway the PV-Holidays website is well worth a look, they have videos of all their Paris apartments / aparthotels featuring great music ;-)
If you are looking for apartments in Paris for a holiday PV-Holidays website deserves a visit. I hadn't heard of them but a friend of mine used an apartment from them for a Disney trip last Autumn. Staying in an apartment or aparthotel beats a standard hotel room hands down. I should know, working in the travel industry all my life I have lived in a few hotels in my time, and the novelty soon wears off. I am even writing this from an aparthotel in Spain. What's great with an apartment is the extra space ( in general ), but most of all having a kitchen.
Having a kitchen, fridge and microwave is especially important when you have kids. You can save a lot of money doing your own food and snacks. When travelling as a family I find it's the snacks and drinks that mount up so if you can e.g. boil a couple of eggs before you go out for the day it really helps.
Anyway the PV-Holidays website is well worth a look, they have videos of all their Paris apartments / aparthotels featuring great music ;-)
Friday, February 6, 2009
Win Free Flights
Win free flights
Thanks to the Win a holiday blog, I just entered an online game where there are flights as prizes. You have to answer multiple choice questions to get your plane to progress and your passport filled. It's a bit like Who wants to be a millionaire with 50/50 or stop the clock to help you out.
I got to New York, if you play let me know how you got on !
What can you Win:
There is two sets of prizes. First a pair of return economy tickets to Hawaii with 7 nights accommodation (room only) at the hotel Hyatt Waikiki. The second is a pair of flights only to a destination depending on where you reached in the game.
How to Enter:
Visit the game website www.ebookersquest.com
You have to answer travel questions to progress through the game.
For the Hawaii prize you just have to refer a friend.
Enter before:
Game closes on 4th March.
Thanks to the Win a holiday blog, I just entered an online game where there are flights as prizes. You have to answer multiple choice questions to get your plane to progress and your passport filled. It's a bit like Who wants to be a millionaire with 50/50 or stop the clock to help you out.
I got to New York, if you play let me know how you got on !
What can you Win:
There is two sets of prizes. First a pair of return economy tickets to Hawaii with 7 nights accommodation (room only) at the hotel Hyatt Waikiki. The second is a pair of flights only to a destination depending on where you reached in the game.
How to Enter:
Visit the game website www.ebookersquest.com
You have to answer travel questions to progress through the game.
For the Hawaii prize you just have to refer a friend.
Enter before:
Game closes on 4th March.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Radisson SAS rebrand to Radisson blu
Radisson SAS rebrand
Radisson SAS will be replacing the SAS part of it's name with "blu" as it drops it's association with the SAS group which it split from a couple of years ago when it became part of Rezidor.
Radisson Blu’s Senior Vice President and COO, Thorsten Kirschke, explained that the change from SAS to Blu will be a gentle evolution taking at least one year. “We currently have more than 200 hotels in operation or under development, so the name change has been designed in such a way that it’ll avoid any unnecessary disruption but still create an impact.”
The hotel chain is keen to point out that none of their business objectives have changed -
"Radisson Blu aim to become the fastest growing, most innovative and dynamic, upper upscale hotel brand in the world.”
Radisson SAS will be replacing the SAS part of it's name with "blu" as it drops it's association with the SAS group which it split from a couple of years ago when it became part of Rezidor.
Radisson Blu’s Senior Vice President and COO, Thorsten Kirschke, explained that the change from SAS to Blu will be a gentle evolution taking at least one year. “We currently have more than 200 hotels in operation or under development, so the name change has been designed in such a way that it’ll avoid any unnecessary disruption but still create an impact.”
The hotel chain is keen to point out that none of their business objectives have changed -
"Radisson Blu aim to become the fastest growing, most innovative and dynamic, upper upscale hotel brand in the world.”
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Lastminute.com hotel sale Friday
6 February only
lastminute.com will be offering 50% off on selected top name UK, US and European hotels this coming Friday for one day only.
Here are some hints from the press release :
"Top deals up for grabs include four star London hotels from £56.00 such as the Radisson SAS Portman, three star hotels in Edinburgh including the Capital hotel from as little as £30.00 and five star Barcelona hotels such as the ME Barcelona from just £85.00."
The offer is available on selected top name hotels across the UK and Europe and valid on stays on selected dates.
Nothing on the site now but worth a look on Friday morning then : Lastminute.com
lastminute.com will be offering 50% off on selected top name UK, US and European hotels this coming Friday for one day only.
Here are some hints from the press release :
"Top deals up for grabs include four star London hotels from £56.00 such as the Radisson SAS Portman, three star hotels in Edinburgh including the Capital hotel from as little as £30.00 and five star Barcelona hotels such as the ME Barcelona from just £85.00."
The offer is available on selected top name hotels across the UK and Europe and valid on stays on selected dates.
Nothing on the site now but worth a look on Friday morning then : Lastminute.com
Hotel Booking Tips
Hotel and holiday booking tips
Because I have been a travel industry insider for all my working life, I am quite often asked what tips I can give for booking hotels or holidays.
Booking your flight & hotel together at an online agency such as flex holidays or Expedia may save you money compared with separate bookings. More importantly though, by booking flight+hotel in one package gives you more protection should either element get cancelled for some reason. ATOL protection is important right now as unfortunately one of holiday suppliers could stop trading thanks to the credit-crunch.
Normally the big companies like Thomson have the best prices, and normally their best prices are had by booking online. Though sometimes agencies such as The Co-operative do get exclusive deals so it's always worth shopping around, or online window shopping as I call it. The reason Thomson are often cheapest despite their, in general, high quality products is firstly that they buy in bulk and can basically bully hotels into accepting their rates. Secondly they guarantee contracts with some hotels and most of their flights so they are committed to them, and this is why you sometime see crazy prices like £2 a night for a hotel. They figure any money is better than nothing if it looks likely to be otherwise empty.
Couple more tips:
If you have any tips on booking holidays please do share by leaving a comment.
If you spend a reasonable amount of money online it is well worth signing up to Rpoints where you can get cashback on hundreds of e-retailers without it costing you extra.
Use Kelkoo hotels to search multiple hotel booking websites at the same time. One hotel search is all you need.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Win a holiday of your choice worth £1000
Guest blog from win a holiday blog.
Credit crunch getting you down, can't afford a nice holiday in 2009 ? Don't despair you could be a lucky winner of a free holiday. We list hundreds of free to enter online competitions with holidays as prizes. The below is an example of how we post the comps. Also have a look at free holidays to Australia, free UK holidays and much more at our site www.winholiday.co.uk
Prize:
In this free to enter monthly competition you can win a £1000 voucher to spend on a Thomson holiday of your choice. You can spend up to £1000 or put it towards a more expensive holiday.
How to Enter:
Go to the Win a Thomson holiday
page on the Thomson website and enter your contact details. You will be registering to recieve email updates from Thomson.
Once you have registered on the site you will automatically be entered into the prize draw. No purchase is necessary.
Closing Date:
There is one prize draw for the £1000 holiday voucher every month. The winner will be selected at random by computer on the last working day of each month.
Credit crunch getting you down, can't afford a nice holiday in 2009 ? Don't despair you could be a lucky winner of a free holiday. We list hundreds of free to enter online competitions with holidays as prizes. The below is an example of how we post the comps. Also have a look at free holidays to Australia, free UK holidays and much more at our site www.winholiday.co.uk
Prize:
In this free to enter monthly competition you can win a £1000 voucher to spend on a Thomson holiday of your choice. You can spend up to £1000 or put it towards a more expensive holiday.
How to Enter:
Go to the Win a Thomson holiday
page on the Thomson website and enter your contact details. You will be registering to recieve email updates from Thomson.Once you have registered on the site you will automatically be entered into the prize draw. No purchase is necessary.
Closing Date:
There is one prize draw for the £1000 holiday voucher every month. The winner will be selected at random by computer on the last working day of each month.
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