Bill Shatner would never mislead you. I’m serious.
There’s not a week that goes by that I don’t get locked into some variation of conversation about travel. Phone calls, text messages, IM–you name it. For some reason, people call upon me for all their travel tips or arrangements. Perhaps it’s because I write about travel? Perhaps it’s because I used to travel a lot? Heck. Maybe it’s just because I’m a nice fella, but regardless, I always point people to Priceline.
Most of the time I get a standard response: “I’ve never done/used that before.”
It’s 2010, people. Whattaya mean you’ve never done that before? If you’ve shopped online, you can use any of the too many online travel entities.
There are three things that I absolutely love about Priceline. 1. As mentioned, William Shatner is the celebrity spokesperson. 2. It’s the one-stop shop for all your travel needs: Flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises. 3. Most importantly, Priceline allows you to bargain and negotiate for travel related services!
Yes, there is a method to the madness, and it takes a little practice to start scoring some of the really stellar deals, but if your schedule is flexible, even by a few hours, you can lock in a fare for far less than the published fares. For hotels, I have named absurd prices for 4 and 5-star hotels, and nailed down deals from an establishment hoping to push toward capacity. That has been in NY, LA and many cities in between.
Same with rental cars. You can get a premium car for the price of a compact or economy, or pay just a few bucks daily for something that’ll get you from place to place.
Are you sold, yet? Just hop on and play around, familiarize yourself with how easy the site is to use. Once you start wheeling and dealing, you can save hundreds on combinations of airfare, car rentals and accommodations. Let Shatner guide you.
(Image via: Veil Tales)