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Show The Salt Lake Tribune TRAVEL Sunday, January 22 Some Suite Hotel Bargains Are Available Through Discount Clubs Can you really save money using those half- price and discount hotel programs? Almostcertainly, the answer is yes Arthur Applebaum, a retired manufacturer’s representative from Northeast Philadelphia sayshedoesit almost every year Last Spring, says Applebaum he andhis wife, Janet stayed for morethan a weekat a suite hotel in Boca Raton, Fla., while visiting relatives, at a cost of $49.50aday — about half the normal room rate. in off the street and get 50 per 1 have to reservewell andit’s wise to - a that goes empty and generates nc income at all irmation number on therate quotedonthe phone. And With the hotel occupancy rate up with memnd averaging 66 percent nationally that leaves countless thousands of across the All of which means that it’s very possible — again theairline com your next-doorneighbor has paid twice as much as you have — or one more and price goes up. There may be minimum-stay re- tations in the book ¢ saved any money. and those rooms that hotel discount programs are filling. with the ho- tels’ cooperation. parison holds — that you'll find halfasmuch. should youbesounlucky and on Maui. at beachfront hotels But what happens when hotel quirements, too. And youhaveto call direct: your travel agent can't. do it for you is projecting a full house, or al- ready has 90 percent of its rooms club or program would also do they saved filled when youcall? The answer well to examine their traveling habits closely, too. It’s moredifficult to save any money if you trayel only onc year. or for short $1.200. But ly prices, he checkedthelatter — and found that they had still saved $800 Those is simple: You don't get the dis count. You pay the going rate or you don't get in Discounts are subject to avail ty.” as they say in the trade considering joining a periods oftime. Retirees who like to travel andarerelatively free to do so. on the other hand, will al says. they stayed only at (and again, isn’t it just like the airlines and their infamous sales” of seats that don’t seem to Sheraton hotels for two weeks pretty much consistently at half price. ‘Thesavings have been consid- exist when vou call?) Andthat may be the biggest ca veat in purchasing adiscount-club membership, which can run from erable. We've doneverywell with as low as $19.95 upto $100 a year If you travel in high season — whether it's winter in the Caribbe- listed in Entertainment's suburbanbooklet (I'm using themas an an or summer in the United States or Europe — you are much less likely to find a member hotel will samewould generally hold true in other clubs) include the Double. And in a trip to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem a few years before that, he it,” says Applebaumof thediscount program run by Entertain- ment Publications. Applebaum's got an added interest in the Entertainment books of hotel and restaurant discounts I might add. He andsome ofhis friends sell themto raise money for research at the Fox Chase Cancer Center But I've used anothersimilar program through a credit-card travel club, with the same results In a single, two-day hotel weekend I saved threetimes the $39.95 cost of joining. And an acquaintance who has belonged to yet an- other half-price club for the last four years has ly had the same experience. It's been just marvelous,” he I've basically cut my hotel costs in half. Howcan this happen, you ask? If you considerfor just a moment howdiscounting worksin theair- z to discount tween the cornrows in Iowa for half-price on your summer vacation, but don't count ongetting one at the Grand Canyon with any discount attached (“We always go at thebest time — when thecrowds aren't there. says Applebaum.) Applebaum an dineout afair a 2 usedthat. als I put littl travel € 4 (3 ther discounts at ¢ = Sears, Shel examples program B Pris a Ask friends about the ir p ences. It's very possible that one North America x S ($99 Cas err you're wondering if The Philadelphia hotels example today, but you'dfind the the 800-847 ass” She op around especially if they go off-season So, by now, d States te Royale Which one thefinal indignity is that all the hotels and motels are fleabags Not so. ) hotels of that particular saved $470,” he S most certainly pay back the cost of membership, and then some — t Same for well-traveled destina tions. You might find a motel be- to) listing1,800hotels United States rate, and for two in a room: add With 50 percent off the rack(pub lished) rate, Applebaum figured about tainment ey tol ns for loc does not apply to special packages or promotional rates, either. If the hotel has a $99-a-night weekend ee rate, in other words, you can’t get fi 9.50. In most cases, the discount applies only to the rack rooms vacant each night. And it’s The year before that, he says, it was Hawaii: 15 days in Waikiki knowing that published rates are often higher than competitivedai s like a seat on anairline, they knowthat a hotel roomsoldat a discount is better than a room on Pearl’s Great Cities Latham, the Omaj, the Sheraton Society Hill and the WyndhamFranklin Plaza — top notch Center City hotels — as well Hong Kong + Bangkok + Singapore + Saigon as a smattering of Holiday Inns. Days Inns anda few others One major added benefit in some cases — andthe Entertain ment publications are a case in point — is that someofthese programs also include discounts at In addition. you can’t just walk car-rental companies, theaters Heart oe of The original, fully-c Holland, Belgium, Germany {ustria, & France line industry, you'll easily see the answer. Just like the airlines, hotels havebecome verysophisticatedat projecting vacancies. 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