Gay couple featured in article in AARP magazine

[milomorris]

I find it is best to research those sites and find prices then go to the hotels own site and book directly. It is often the same price and sometimes better.

Absolutely!! I almost never buy via the travel sites. Like you, I use them to do the research, and then book directly with the hotel or airline. The ONLY time I book via the sites is when the online price is lower.

Also, I use kayak.com because it returns results from multiple sites.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Brian, thanks for your input on the hotel-booking sites.

Does Amtrak have a station in SF itself now?  When I travelled to SF by train back in 97 and 99 I had to board in Emeryville.

There is no actual Amtrak train station in San Francisco proper. However, Amtrak has its own bus service, which transports passengers to and from the station in Emeryville. The buses stop at several different locations in San Francisco.

When I booked my Rail Odyssey last year, I had never been to San Francisco before, so more or less at random I booked my ticket to the "Ferry Building" stop in the city. I had to leave the Coast Starlight at Emeryville and board a dedicated bus, which then dropped me off at the "station" on the Embarcadero. When I left the city, I boarded a bus at the Ferry Building, and the bus took me back to Emeryville, where I boarded the California Zephyr.

Since I'm now familiar with the Embarcadero "station," I'm hoping to stay near it in August.

[brianr]

That is what happened when I travelled from Chicago to San Francisco in 1999 except I got off at a more central location in the city near the cable car stop.
Back in 1997 I rented a car to drive to Yosemite and back. Most of the way, driving on the "wrong" side of the road, I was very nervous. Returning I wanted to drop my bag at Emeryville as i was catching the train to Seattle about 10pm and I wanted to take the car back to an office in the city then be free to wander around. I could not find any directions to the station until, driving along, I noticed a bus going the other way with Emeryville on the destination. I quickly did a U-turn and followed it. I was quite proud of myself 

[Jeff Wrangler]

That is what happened when I travelled from Chicago to San Francisco in 1999 except I got off at a more central location in the city near the cable car stop.

That may depend on which cable car line you're looking for. When I was in San Francisco last year, of course I wanted to take a cable car ride. On Sunday afternoon, there were lines a block long and more for the Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde cars because they run from Powell and Market streets up to Fisherman's Wharf. I consulted my city map. The California Street line begins at California and Market, about a block from the Embarcadero. I didn't really care what line I rode, as long as I got a cable car ride, so I walked over to California and Market. Only two or three people were there waiting for the cable car. I had a lovely ride up California Street, over Nob Hill, and back, with no waiting. 

[serious crayons]

Back to the subject of priceline and hotwire, I think they are well worth a try. If you are really specific about what you need -- you want to be within two blocks of a station, for example, or you really like Hyatts but you hate Sheratons -- if you are extremely particular, in other words, they might not be the way to go. If you're OK with anywhere in a certain part of a city, and what you want is a really nice room in a well-above-average hotel, then I would not hesitate to use one of them.

I have stayed in some of -- literally -- the best rooms of my life for around $50 a night. And I've done a fair amount of traveling in my life. Honestly. More details if you request them.

Absolutely!! I almost never buy via the travel sites. Like you, I use them to do the research, and then book directly with the hotel or airline. The ONLY time I book via the sites is when the online price is lower.

Also, I use kayak.com because it returns results from multiple sites.

Priceline.com and hotwire.com really do not compare to the usual travel sites -- like expedia.com or kayak.com, for example -- at all.

If you guys don't want to believe me, then part of me is fine with that, actually. I do want to be of service, if possible. But when I started using priceline, my first reaction was, Oh my god, I'd better not tell anybody about this, because there's no way they (priceline) can keep doing this once a lot of people find out about it.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Priceline.com and hotwire.com really do not compare to the usual travel sites -- like expedia.com or kayak.com, for example -- at all.

If you guys don't want to believe me, then part of me is fine with that, actually. I do want to be of service, if possible. But when I started using priceline, my first reaction was, Oh my god, I'd better not tell anybody about this, because there's no way they (priceline) can keep doing this once a lot of people find out about it.

I believe you! I believe you!

If I were feeling a bit more adventurous this trip, I'd think seriously about giving it a try. This time out, though, proximity to the Amtrak pick-up/drop-off point is important. Not only will I be leaving San Francisco by train fairly early on August 9, I also plan on day-tripping via train to Sacramento to visit the California State Railroad museum. So I'll be using that "station" "a lot" during a four-night stay.

OTOH, like Milo, I've used Hotels.com for research but not booking--particularly when I went to Denver in April. And I just more or less picked Hotels.com at random last summer. When I needed to find places to stay in Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco for my Rail Odyssey, the plethora of travel web sites very quickly became bewildering. More or less on the theory of six-of-one, half-a-dozen-of-the-other, I went with Hotels.com.

[serious crayons]

I believe you! I believe you!

 

[milomorris]

Priceline.com and hotwire.com really do not compare to the usual travel sites -- like expedia.com or kayak.com, for example -- at all.

Oh, I believe you. I have gotten some good deals on Priceline in particular. But let's face it, travel & lodging can be a crapshoot. especially international travel.

[serious crayons]

Oh, I believe you. I have gotten some good deals on Priceline in particular. But let's face it, travel & lodging can be a crapshoot. especially international travel.

True. I haven't used Priceline for international travel. But I've had great luck with it for domestic hotels. I've used it maybe a dozen times, and the worst I've encountered was a snafu with the information getting to the hotel that resulted in my having to wait 20 minutes or so to get into the room. That was eventually cleared up, and has only happened once. The rooms have all been great.