• What's elliott?
• About elliott
• Contact us

t o p i c s

• Business
• Commentary
• Destinations
• Help
• Leisure
• Technology
• Vault

Copyright Elliott Publishing. All rights reserved. For more information, call (305) 453-4781 or send e-mail to us.

The Price is Right
US News & World Report · July 7, 2003

Mina Soares envisioned a 40th birthday bash with her pals in an exciting locale. But as the big day drew near, the Baltimore financial analyst faced a midlife booking crisis: pay full price for a trip or gamble on a last-minute cut-rate deal online? "I was afraid I'd be stuck with a plane ticket with five stopovers," she recalls. "I was afraid I'd have to stay in a seedy motel."

But she couldn't resist the deal on site59.com, a purveyor of discount travel: 3 nights at the historic Le Pavillon Hotel in New Orleans for only $238 per person, double occupancy, including roundtrip airfare with just one stop. When she turned 40 recently, Soares and three friends had a Big Easy fete. At night, they retreated to the four-star hotel, where antiques abound, bathrooms have marble fixtures, and the free nightcap is a pb & j sandwich. And where rooms typically start at $260 a night.

Soares didn't know it, but she was a trend setter. "The luxury brands can't afford to ignore last-minute travel," says Mike Putman, president of 11thhourvacations.com. As the travel slump continues, even the snootiest inns are discreetly slipping rooms online at discount prices. There are plenty of takers. Dot-coms that feature ritzy vacation packages, like site59.com, are booming. If its spring bidding pattern holds, even Priceline.com, a favorite for bargain-hunters, will sell about 1.6 million high-end rooms this year, or about 300,000 more nights of luxury than the previous year.

Most of the deals can be found on the Internet - a convenient bazaar because it's inexpensive and easy to update. Hotels do it live, too, when rooms don't fill up fast enough. Simply ask: "Do you have a lower rate?"

Shhh. Ritz-Carlton, boutique hotel chain Ian Schrager Hotels, and cruise lines Crystal Cruises and the Yachts of Seabourn are among the companies offering special rates for spur-of-the-moment vacationers (generally, less than 14 days in advance). But they're not bragging about these deals. If they hype their cut rates, they risk cheapening their brand, not to mention alienating guests who pay top dollar. In fact, a Schrager spokeswoman insisted the hotel didn't "as a rule, offer last-minute incentives or discounts." Au contraire, says site59.com, which offered special rates at the Clift hotel in downtown San Francisco.

"We have to lower our price to attract new guests," admits Michael Norton, Crystal's vice president of marketing. "But it's not fair for customers who book in advance to pay a higher rate." For early bookers, Crystal automatically refunds the difference between the advance-purchase rate and the promotional faresbetween $50,000 and $100,000 on a typical cruise.

Even a no-name hotel can turn out to be no dive. Michael Becraft, a customer support supervisor for a Columbia, Md., software firm, went looking online for a deal on upscale digs in Anchorage, Alaska. The best weekend rate he could find was a $72-a-night room at the Econo Lodge. Hotwire.com, a Web site that tells the rate but doesn't divulge the property until you've booked, offered a $53-a-night rate at a higher-end inn. Turns out it was the more conveniently-located three-star Sheraton. "I was surprised to get such a low price," he says. And for good reason: weekend rates start at $199.

No one expects luxury bargains to last. When the travel industry swings back, the deals are bound to vanish. But for now, cheapskates can revel at the Ritz.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.