Hidden hotel savings tricks

After several unsuccessful attempts at bidding for a four star hotel in Baltimore at a bargain rate last weekend, I conceded defeat and opted for the "automobile association" discount at a Sheraton property.  Although I was disappointed in not paying less, I did earn points and was able to flex my elite status into an upgrade.  But, the real lesson, besides learning to bid better (or more realistically) on priceline, was not considering what might be going on before I got there that 1) might have influenced the room/rate availability and 2) presented savings opportunities to exploit. 

Over Labor Day, there happened to be a large conference/convention going on at this particular hotel.  While it was great for the hotel, it was not so great as a guest in attendance that was not a part of the group.  After learning what the conference was, I was curious and researched the group.  Sure enough, there was a "special rate" for this conference last weekend.  While it may be a little sneaky, one could have easily found this promotion code and used it for their reservation, saving a bit more than I paid.  However, if you are looking to earn points as well with these special rates, you might be out of luck.  Starwood, in particular, doesn't allows this.  In many cases, though, you are better off saving the money when and where you can than worrying about the points, if you don't travel frequently.

For future bookings, when you want a particular hotel, and are willing to do a little "extra" research, try using Google to see if there is a conference going on.  It might not only yield a discounted hotel room, but airfare as well.  Here is a suggestion: in Google, enter the date(s) for when you want to stay in the search bar, add "special conference rate" and the city.  Using this method, a sample result can be seen here.  Scroll through the listings provided and look for a direct booking link or other code to use.  This is somewhat crude and can be refined to include the actual hotel name as well.  Most major cities have conferences going on all of the time at larger, more upscale hotels.

Mother's Day Savings

According to Aboutflowers.com, Mother's Day represents approximately 25% of all flower purchases during the holidays.  It's easy to see why; the Census Bureau estimates that there are about "82.5 million mothers of all ages in the U.S.," which would make May 9th a very busy day indeed for the floral industry.

It's no secret that buying flowers, really any time of the year, can be pricey, if being purchased online.  Since not everyone gets to live with their mothers past the age of 18, a great deal of flowers are likely ordered over the phone or the web.  This service can make flowers a pretty pricey endeavor.  But, there are ways to blunt some of the cost.  As I have mentioned in a previous post during Valentine's Day, you can use web flower services like FTD.com to get an idea for an arragement and simply go into the store and have them made.  It will probably save you a few bucks on shipping at least.

If buying flowers in person is not an option, than mitigate some of that cost by employing other tricks I have mentioned.  Promotion codes abound for sites like FTD.  Also, your frequent flyer mile program of choice likely has an offer to earn miles for shopping through their website.  For example, United offers 30 miles/dollar spent at FTD.  At about $.01/mile value, a $40 arrangement netting you 1200 miles is like getting $12 off, or about a 30% savings.  An interesting side note about this particular offer is that it was emailed to me.  United's normal offer with FTD is for only 25 miles/dollar.  Another case made for signing up for promotional emails.

Remember also that the crush for delivery of flowers will cause your shipping price to go up.  So, try to ship them on a day where they won't be as busy.  Think Friday, May 7, as opposed to Saturday, May 8.

Secret Sales

In the Sunday coupon circular, I saw an ad promoting redplum.  If you look carefully at your coupons, if you still get the Sunday newspaper, redplum is probably a sponsor of them.  They are offering, on their website of course, the chance to get involved in secret sales, or exclusive sales, for free.  All you have to do is sign up. 

Expect deals on electronics, books, flowers and more.  All you have to do is enter a special promotion code when you check out.


As you troll through web, you will probably notice other "exclusive" shopping offers.  Join as many as you like, but just don't pay for any that ask for money.

Promotional emails and offers

With a ton of email already in our boxes each day due to work and friends, it might not seem appealing to you to add to your clutter purposefully. There is an exception to that rule in that if the email benefits you financially, and relatively quickly, it’s worth agreeing to sign up for promotions. Just today, two items popped up simply because I had agreed to receive solicitations: a 40% off coupon for All Menus.com, the nationwide online restaurant ordering and delivery service, and CVS, promoting double ExtraBucks rewards.

A click on the CVS email indicates that one needs to "register" for this offer. By registering, meaning entering one's ExtraBucks card number on their website and submitting it. Behind the scenes at CVS, a little hamster in a computer is turning, indicating that you may likely participate in their promotion, which runs from January 17 to March 15, 2010. This isn't something you would have likely seen, or been told, at a CVS store. Not because an employee forgot, but because the obvious lure is for you to get on their website, register, and maybe fish around a bit to see if anything else is appealing.

Registering for promotions is not a new concept. But, more retailers are getting involved in the act. For the sake of this article, "non-traditional" retailers will be defined as those who weren’t previously requiring their customers to "register" for promotions, such as CVS, while offering special deals. They may have simply been doing so while only advertising it in the store, or on television. But, for years, "traditional" retailers, such as airlines and car rental companies especially, have been involved in this act. Register this code and get triple miles from Washington, DC to Maui during these dates or in the case of car rental companies, register and get a free class upgrade on the weekend. CVS, and others, like banks, have definitely gotten involved in the register-via-our-website-and-get-something-good game. It brings traffic, and likely, sales.

As such, an entire cottage industry has been born from promoting these special registration offers. Thus, it's a great idea to see what discounts and other deals are being offered in the course of comparison shopping. Google is your friend, but it cannot track every registration promotional offer out there. Some offers require you to call a phone number and key in a code corresponding with your credit card. They may be targeted, so not everyone can take advantage.

To help you manage commercial email so you can take advantage of special offers, set up a free account. You won't miss any emails, and you won't be deluged, either, with emails that might prevent you from seeing more timely communications. Alternatively, if you like everything under one roof, live dangerously and just use one account for all of your personal email communications. That way when you check your email frequently as most people do, timely offers can be seen right away.