Travel Tip for Bootstrappers

This might not quite consitute "new knowledge", but recently, I got a great travel tip from some bootstrapping entrepreneurs who've been traveling a great deal for fund-raising and business development: try using the Priceline.com service for hotels.    Without this service, these entrepreneurs could never have afforded to do the travel they really needed to do.

The Priceline hotel reservation system ain't bad.  Unlike their airline travel service which has some significant shortcomings and I can't really recommend (and probably inhibited me, and you probably, from even thinking about trying their hotel service), the Priceline hotel service allows you to pick your day, general location, and quality of the hotel.  What more do you need?

I traveled to Boston recently and stayed at the Hyatt Cambridge, a four star hotel, which I bid $50/night for.  Did the same in several other cities on the east coast.  I probably saved about $1000 in the last month, probably more.  And the best part is that if you opt for the $5 of insurance you can cancel anytime and get your money back (less the $5 of course).

The drawback is that you can't pick the exact hotel you want to stay in (in which case, if you need to pick a hotel specifically, I recommend using hotels.com).  But for a 50-80% discount, it's almost stupid not to use the Priceline hotel reservation service, especially if you or your team travels a great deal.   I recommend trying it out.  There are some inconveniences that you can encounter, some hotels that are a bit more run down that typical, or not in the absolute best location.  But the rooms are still 3 and 4 star and comfortable in my experience so far.   Furthermore, in small towns, you often have a choice of limited number of hotels anyways, and location really isn't that big of a deal.  Might as well book it through Priceline.

If you know of some other good travel tips like this one that are not too obvious but you find yourself doing it yourself with regularity, do share.