A must-read article in the NYT about how you can find lower prices on foreign or national-site websites instead of using their U-S or dot-com sites. There are pitfalls, but it's worth a look. Even if the websites restrict purchases if you're not a national of that country, it may give you some alternate suggestions for regional airlines, etc., that may not show up on dot com U-S based sites. See http://tinyurl.com/2rgchn. Don't let them rip you off!
Posted by
Bellevue, WA, USA
359 posts
In case the link won't work, you'll have to remove the period from the end, or click here: http://tinyurl.com/2rgchn
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Yes, I booked our hotel in Playa del Carmen (Mexico) for this past June at http://www.hotelkatalog24.de/ which was much cheaper than other website I found. Previously I had booked the Hotel Platzl (Munich) via this website which have me a better deal than any other place - including directly with the hotel.
I also booked another hotel in Tulum (Mexico) with this website: http://www.holidayhotels.com/ which is a UK site.
Even though I had to pay in Pounds Sterling and Euros the price was still cheaper.
Posted by
Portland, OR, USA
805 posts
I agree. I used Holiday Autos UK at http://www.holidayautos.co.uk/ to book a car in Italy this summer. Even though we paid in English Pounds, the cost was still about $150 less (for a week) than anywhere else we could find. We had a great experience with them and I would recommend them to everyone.
Posted by
Bend, OR
576 posts
I just did a comparison between Sorrento, Italy hotels on Expedia.com and Expedia.it and here I found the prices to be almost the same, when I did the exchange rate comparison. I wonder if there is a site on which to book Italian hotels that gives cheaper rates? (I'm always hopeful...the current exhange rate is terrible!)