Editor's Note: This story was originally published on January 8, 2010. To see the most recent SmarterTravel articles on related topics, please click on any of the following links: AARP , Alamo , Avis , Baymont Inns & Suites , Best Western , booking strategy , Budget , Cambria Suites quality inn maingate west in orlando florida , car rental , Choice Hotels , Clarion , Collette Vacations , Comfort Inns & Suites , cruise , Days Inn , Deal Base , Econo Lodge , Ed Perkins , Enterprise , Expedia , Four Points , Hampton Inn , Hawthorn Suites , Hertz , hotel , Hotwire , Howard Johnson , Hurtigruten quality inn maingate west in orlando florida , insurance , Kayak , Knights Inn , La Quinta , last-minute , Le Meridien , Luxury Collection , MainStay Suites , Microtel Inns & Suites , MSC Cruises , National quality inn maingate west in orlando florida , Priceline , Quality Inn , Ramada , Rodeway Inn , Seniors on the Go , senior travel , Sheraton , Sleep Inn , St. Regis , Starwood Hotels , Super 8 , tour operator , Travelocity , Travelodge , W , Westin , Wingate Inn , Wyndham .
AARP's travel discounts once an important resource for travelers age 50 or over continue to decline in their appeal and utility. As I noted last year, you should quality inn maingate west in orlando florida now view a mass-group discount (AARP, AAA, and such) as a fallback position to be used only when you can't find a better deal some other way.
Discounts at the 10 mostly mid-price and budget quality inn maingate west in orlando florida Choice Hotels brands quality inn maingate west in orlando florida are now "up to" 10 percent off, close to a meaningless promise: Ascend, Cambria Suites, Clarion, Comfort Inn/Suites, Econo Lodge, MainStay Suites, Quality Inn, Rodeway Inn, Sleep Inn, and Suburban Extended Stay.
Discounts at the nine mostly upscale Starwood brands are 5 percent to 25 percent off the "best available" rate, another vague promise: Aloft, Element, Four Points, Le Meridien, Luxury Collection, Sheraton, St. Regis, W, and Westin.
Discounts at the 11 Wyndham brands in all price ranges are 10 percent off: Baymont, Days Inn, Hawthorn Suites , Howard Johnson , Knights Inn, Microtel, Ramada , Super 8, Travelodge, Wingate, and Wyndham.
Among the other three chains, Best Western offers "up to" 20 percent in the United States, Canada, and many other locations throughout the world; Hampton quality inn maingate west in orlando florida (the only Hilton brand in the AARP program) offers 10 percent off "select" rates which may not be a deal at all and La Quinta offers a measly quality inn maingate west in orlando florida 5 percent discount.
Although other big chains and individual hotels do not participate in the AARP program, many of them nevertheless offer senior discounts. Most are in the same range as AARP's deals; qualifying ages range from 50 to 65, with some even accepting AARP identification.
Beyond hotels, quality inn maingate west in orlando florida AARP members get a range of other travel discounts: Up to 20 percent to 25 percent off many car rental quality inn maingate west in orlando florida rates at Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz, and National, with unspecified discounts at Enterprise. In addition, all six companies provide extra liability coverage of 25/50/10 quality inn maingate west in orlando florida plus a $5,000 cap on collision liability a significant benefit if you rely on personal quality inn maingate west in orlando florida insurance or a credit card for collision coverage.
quality inn maingate west in orlando florida Reductions on tour packages up to $200 per person quality inn maingate west in orlando florida on Collette Tours, DuVine Adventures, General Tours, Grand European Tours, Journeys Unlimited, quality inn maingate west in orlando florida and Regina quality inn maingate west in orlando florida Tours, plus 5 percent reductions on vacation rentals from The Right Vacation Rental.
Your strategy for finding your best deal remains about as it has been for several years. Start by looking for special promotions and "sales" available to travelers of any age. You can do that easily through any of the big online search programs, such as SmarterTravel's price comparison tool , KAYAK, or DealBase, or one of the big online agencies such as Expedia or Travelocity. Then check to see if you can do better through AARP deals, senior deals, or AAA deals with any of the suppliers that look good. If one of these deals is better, take it, but chances quality inn maingate west in orlando florida are you'll often be able to do better with a more limited deal available to the general public.
If you're sure you won't cancel and will accept a "run of the house" room assignment you can often cut your hotel bills substantially by buying through one of the two big "opaque" sites, Hotwire or Priceline. They're even better for rental cars, where you typically don't care which rental company supplies the car. Even if you add in the price of cancellation "insurance," those opaque rates can be a lot lower than the best openly posted deals.
Have you noticed quality inn maingate west in orlando florida the discounts declining with your AARP membership? Or do you find better discounts when you skip the AARP rates all together? Share your thoughts and advice with fellow readers by submitting a comment below?
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