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A Place for everyone . . .

© Diane Goldberg under the original topic name

From budget traveler with a back pack to corporate raider with a mission most of us travel happier when we have a secure room waiting at the other end of our flight, rail trip, drive or hitch-hike. The net powered tripper can arrange a room virtually anywhere in the world before leaving home. The footloose and fancy-free tourist can stop off at an Internet café and check out accommodations before moving on to the next destination.

A booking engine for all travelers . . .

In the vast sea of cyberspace, there are many sites devoted to booking hotel rooms. From the least expensive Bed and Breakfast in rural England to a luxury hotel in Tokyo, you can find the lodgings you're looking for on the web. Each of the many search engines has particular strengths.

Http://www.travelnow.com is a super engine if you are trying to do a book grouping. One of the few Internet sites with special accommodation for the web travelers trying to arrange rooms for a group of ten or more travelnow is set up to meet the needs of groups as easily as individual travelers. Another selling point for this site is the huge number of rooms world wide that you can book here.

Travelnow has a vast database. Hotels that show up on other searches as having no vacancies can sometimes be booked at travel now. Links to rail passes sales are on the site.

Travelnow does seem to focus on three star or better accommodations. Choices in the "very inexpensive" range seem limited. For worldwide coverage in business class hotels, you'd do well to start and finish your search here.

http://www.travelzoo.com is an all purpose travel site. My favorite bit is the search engine that gives you an up-do-date listing of Internet airfares available from over twenty airlines. The hotel offerings do not seem exceptional although the package tour traveler and cruise shopper will find some seductive specials. Travelzoo is a good choice for the tourist interested in on-stop shopping. It is easy to make all the arrangements you'll need here.

http://www.priceline.com does hotels as well as airline tickets. For folks who like the priceline concept the site works well advertising a return time of an hour after receiving your request. For the three travel web residents unfamiliar with priceline's concept here's the deal: you name a product, in this case, a hotel room, and the dates and location you need. You list the price you want to pay for the product. If priceline can find a product that matches your search, they return to you and you make a booking. I'd venture to guess that for the traveler with car access doing a business trip to an USA city this might be a useful resource --- especially if you are budgeting your expenses.

The copyright of the article A Place for everyone . . . in Traveling on a Budget is owned by Diane Goldberg under the original topic name. Permission to republish A Place for everyone . . . in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.