TravelNow.com -A Helping Hand-
Written: Jun 3, 2002
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TravelNow.com
My Trip and TravelNow.com
Last year, in August, we had to drive to Tampa, Florida to visit my sister, who now lives in Georgia. I'll be planning a trip there some time later this year. I will probably use TravelNow.com to assist me in hotel reservations and to take advantage of some discounts.
We made our reservations using TravelNow.com and it was very simple to do. First thing I did was go to the site and click on the tab that says *stay*, located at the top of the page. It brought me to a page that asked what dates I would be staying and after I chose those dates it gave me an extensive list of hotels and their rates for those dates.
The fact that I like this site is because of the money it saved me. A bit over $10.00 per night by using them in comparison to the rates if you call them and make the reservations. We stayed at the Quality Inns Busch Gardens. The rates change from time to time but at the particular time we stayed for $218. total and the rooms were great!
Reserving rooms are easy really using TravelNow.com Once you decide on a hotel and price, the info they require is really basic:
Email Address - Confirm Email Address - First Name - Last Name - Street Address - City - State or Province - Home Phone - Alternate Phone - Fax - Company Name - Smoking Preference
The will ask for your CC info and then you must check a box that says you agree to their terms for cancellation or changes. They charge $10 for this if done before 24 hours of your reservation day and if you don't show or do not cancel within that period, you will charged for the first nights stay. OUCH! So, don't forget to call or e-mail them if you can't make it or are going to be a late arrival. You can make reservations with them over the telephone if you are uncomfortable with using your CC over the internet. There toll free numbers are:
US and Canada - 1-800-511-5741 or in Europe: 00-800-60-99-60-99.
Once you make your reservation you will be given an Itinerary Number and you need to keep this and use it for any correspondence with them. You will most likely receive a confirmation number as well for the hotel. They will follow up with you in 24 hours using the Itinerary Number and a confirmation number if you have it already. You can not count on your reservation being authentic until you receive that confirmation number from TravelNow.com and they will e-mail it to you as soon as they receive it from the hotel. You will NOT hear from the hotel themselves.
About the website TravelNow.com:
I've pretty well covered the *how-to's* of reserving hotel rooms on the site in my story. Let me go on to some other points about the site.
About navigation and site cosmetics: TravelNow.com is nice looking, well thought out site in design. It is clean and uncluttered. The colors are comfortable with black, blues, and white that are arranged in a complementary theme. At the very top you will find simple links such as:
Home - Become an Affiliate - View/Cancel Reservation - Destination Guide - Hotel Specials - Groups - Newsletters - Contact Us
Directly below the links you will see three icons. They will say Stay - Drive - Fly and below those you will find three tabs that say the exact same thing. Those will be your main site guides.
Page loads are pretty fast, but searches may take a bit longer. I use DSL and a search averages about 10 seconds for me. And speaking of the search feature: The search works well enough. It has many cities stored in it's data base but you may find more obscure locations to be unavailable in the search. Don't know what to tell you about that except to call the city you are searching for local chamber to find out more about their hotels and such.
You can search by dates you are going to be traveling and it will bring up the best rates on all flights, hotels, and car rentals for that time and list any incentives or specials they may have for any particular company. I was fortunate to be traveling to a well known city.
It really doesn't matter what service you are seeking on here. Flight, hotel, car rental. It all works pretty much the same way. After including all your data, time, dates, etc, you will be taken to a page with all the airlines, hotels, and car rental companies that are available on those dates and the prices. The reservation process works the same on all as well.
One thing you may want to consider is signing up for their newsletter. This will be especially helpful for you if you are uncertain of travel dates and may wish to wait for a good deal. The newsletter they send out will list any available *specials* on rates and such that are available and what dates you could get them. I get the newsletter and have found that I may be able to take advantage of a couple of good deals before long for my trip later this year.
Another important feature for those of you who are touring is that they can help you with finding attractions in cities of your choosing. You can find things such as restaurants, entertainment, any current events such as concerts and such that may be happening during your stay. They really are a full service travel site and a reliable one too.
My Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed my experience with TravelNow.com last year and intend to use them this year. I find that their rates are comparable with any other service online and maybe even more dependable than some. They try hard to please the traveler. That is important. Be sure to check out any specials that will be listed on the right hand side bar. Could be they will have just what you are looking for and save you some bucks to boot. Try them out today!
Note: You will notice that I have checked *right on time* with the drop down boxes. The reason for this was my reservation confirmation. I did not have to wait more than 15 seconds to receive it. It isn't always like this. Some hotels do not confirm immediately but most do. Mine was perfect!
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Audrey aka Jo
Location: Arkansas
Reviews written: 275
Trusted by: 729 members
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