Meandering Missive: Adventures in online travel

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Adventures in online travel

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I took the plunge and made an online travel reservation! That's the story in a nutshell. Now for the story in a quagmire of verbiage! *grin*

Ever since I was in college, I've belonged to the Society of Professional Journalists. Each year, SPJ has a convention that comprises all kinds of cool stuff like professional development workshops, career advancement opportunities, networking, technology demonstrations, resume and clip critiques by the pros, etc. There are also receptions, silent and live auction fundraisers and other fun activities.

I've never gone to an SPJ convention before. Either they were too far away (read: too expensive) for me to fly to; they were on dates that were inconvenient for me; or BOTH scenarios together! This year, however, the convention is in Las Vegas, which isn't too expensive to fly to (especially with the SPJ discount w/ American Airlines), and the dates are ones I can actually attend. And so I am! :D

The convention begins Sunday, Oct. 16 and concludes Tuesday, Oct. 18. I decided to go in the beginning of September and telephoned the lavish Aladdin Casino & Resort to take advantage of the awesomely discounted $99 a night room block SPJ reserved for Con attendees. Well, those rooms sold faster than hotcakes, and left me with nothing but rooms in the $200 to $400 range. YIKES! Not good when I'm barely making ends meet and wouldn't have planned the trip at all if my accountant hadn't assured me that yes, this trip is considered a biz expensive and yes, I could write off the hotel, airplane and convention registration costs on my taxes. I just have to document everything! (*gulp*)

I did some research online and via phone to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau (or some such name), and found that the cheapest rooms for those dates available at a hotel that was still on "The Strip" were at The Sahara. It's a snazzy, modern hotel/resort and also a Vegas landmark, having started (albeit in a much smaller way) back in 1952! And at just $63 a night, I was ecstatic! The Sahara is unfortunately all the way at the other end of the Strip from The Aladdin, but I found I could hop on the Vegas Monorail for a couple bucks and get from resort to resort in 10 to 15 minutes. And so, I called The Sahara and made a 2-night reservation.

After a week or two of thinking about how much more convenient and fun it would be to stay at the same venue as the Con, and hearing my CSI-watching mom say how worried she and my dad were about me shuttling myself up and down the Strip, partly at night and probably alone (although I'm sure I'll make friends at the Con), The Aladdin started looking pretty good.

Long story short, I called The Aladdin back yesterday morning. An Aladdin reservation clerk said the cheapest room rate for those dates was $299 for Sunday night and $229 Monday night. He did confide, however, that I might want to check the online travel sites for better deals. ;) So I checked Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia and wow -- the first two had the same rate as Aladdin for Monday night but a REDUCED rate for Sunday! Whereas Aladdin wanted $299, Travelocity and Orbitz managed to snag the $229! I then looked at some consumer-rating websites to see whether T or O had higher recommendations. It was close, but T inched out O by a nose, so I took the plunge!

I've always been wary about booking travel via a website, partly because I've heard/read things that have gone wrong for people, and partly just because I'd rather deal with an airline, hotel, attraction directly than use a "middleman". But in this case, I'll take the middleman. A $70 savings is a drop in the bucket to many folks, but unfortunately for me and my financial situation, it makes a big difference and I'm VERY grateful to be saving it! *blush*

I almost booked online, but then saw Travelocity has a customer service number, so I called. I always prefer dealing with a human being. :) His name was Hector and he was very friendly, polite and patient, and made the experience smoother and faster than water off a duck's back! (sorry for the cliche'! *chuckle*) I have now printed out my email confirmation (which Travelocity electronically sends wherever a person is doing), and all I need to do is present it to The Aladdin upon check-in. Not so bad after all!! *gleeful skip*

Now I just need to telephone The Sahara and cancel THAT reservation. I'd better do it now, while I'm thinking of it. Oh wait; it's time to eat pizza! I'll call later.... ;D

Today I am feeling excited.

posted by ScaryShari @ 5:23 PM

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