So much for travel sites being the end-all for all your reservation needs. I have finalized my Austin apartment preview for September (a week after ACL, to avoid the unwashed masses ;-) for over $150 dollars cheaper by doing it piece-wise and not choosing a package ‘deal’.
I needed a flight, a car, and a place to sleep for three nights and four days. Orbitz quoted me $561, Travelocity quoted me $534, and Priceline quoted me $510. My price? $360
To make things fair, I’m staying in a hostel instead of a hotel. However, had I made reservations at a cheap hotel (cheap is $50/night, I guess), my price would have been $450, still cheaper than the best quote from these bargain sites.
I suppose using a Denver-based discount carrier (Frontier) and buying directly from them is an advantage since a reseller cannot beat their price. And some diligent car searching revealed that there are weekend rates and weekday rates. Apparently the business pukes pay more than double to drive during the week. And the trump card is most certainly the hostel, which is less than half the cost of a standard hotel.
The one advantage that bargain sites have for them is that everything is taken care of all-at-once. No making sure each part will work and fit together. It just will. Saves a lot of time and some stress. But I sure like my $150!