To Save Money You Can't Be a Namby Pamby

My son is on a traveling lacrosse team and has a tournament coming up soon. The games start early in the morning so we decided to drive up the night before. But finances are tight. So I decided to give Priceline a go, and you know, karate chop those hotel booking fees.

We ended up with a room in a Hilton Garden Inn for $55.00 a night. This is half the price listed on the their website. I may be addicted.

There are, however, some caveats ... Priceline only guarantees double occupancy. There will be four of us. All four of us might be sharing one bed (granted it is a king). My kids are also young and flexible -- if necessary they can sleep on the floor. I am told Hotwire allows you to book rooms based on the number of people. I might just try this the next time to avoid the double occupancy issue.

I did call the hotel and request double beds vs a king. I was told there were no more double beds available. Then my husband called and pretended he wanted to make a reservation. Lo and behold they had a room with double beds. So if booking with Priceline don't expect first class service. We will ask for double beds again when we arrive and see what happens. If it's a no go then we'll simply snuggle up close.

Another caveat is that you don't get to pick the hotel when you are bidding. You do choose a star rating and general location. But you only find out the actual location after a bid is accepted.

So the moral of the story is you can save quite a bit of money via Priceline. But you can't be namby pamby and you are going to have to take what you can get.

Happy Frugal Friday!