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I also stayed at this hotel about a week ago. I can't see this as a viable alternative to staying in Manhattan, if seeing NYC is your goal. It's just too far out, and during the week, the traffic when you get closer to the city is brutal. JB

Got this on the first bid :) ! Bid via Savingsbarn.com. Your Offer Price: $32.00 Extend Your Stay Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $32.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $12.06 Total Charges*: $44.06 JB

Got this on first bid. Your Offer Price: $35.00 Extend Your Stay Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $35.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $11.61 Total Charges*: $46.61 JB

Yes, it is common practice to request that 3 digit number when a card is not physically present to be swiped. It is a protection for you so that a credit card number that may have been stolen can not be used. I am finding that most online purchases I make require that number. JB

Got this hotel on the first try. Last minute decision to stay overnight rather than drive back and forth, mainly because of this blooming heatwave. JB

Doing a whale watch, while a fascinating and worthwhile activity, will eat up a huge amount of your available time. If you decide to stay in the Boston area (i.e. Aquarium, etc.) another very kid-friendly place is the Museum of Science. Lots and lots of interactive, fun displays. You might also walk from the Aquarium to Quincy Market for lunch... a fun place as well. JB

I just found this for your dates for $36/night: 3-star hotel in Lowell - Chelmsford This midscale establishment offers more than just the basics in style, comfort and customer service. See hotel details * Restaurant(s) * Pool(s) * Fitness Center * High-speed Internet Access * Business Center * Laundry Facilities Area details: Area known for freshwater fishing, close to many commuter towns along Highway 495. See area map I am almost positive that is the Radisson. Is this a match for what you saw? We stayed there last year and will probably stay there again this summer. JB

Yup... I can see the first one. JB

Which rental company did you get? Most rental companies will let you 'upgrade'.. probably for a fee. Try calling the rental company at Bradley (look up their local phone #) and see if you can negotiate directly with them. I just rented a full size car (which are not as big as they used to be, we discovered!) and was offered either an SUV or a Minivan. I didn't take it so I don't know how much it would have been. Good luck! JB P.S. Oops! Just saw that you got Hertz... call them directly at Bradley.

Do you read the news? Most of that area has been totally trashed by Katrina. JB

I don't know if the car rental agents know how you booked, but since you reserve a specific class of car.. i.e. compact, full size, etc, I don't think it would affect which car you get. Actually, last year I booked a car through Priceline in Ft. Lauderdale, and they gave us an SYV instead of the compact car we reserved. They were insanely busy and I suspect it was the only car available at the moment. JB

Just to finalize this, we have decided to stay at the Four Queens on Fremont Street. We will have a car so can drive to the strip when we want. JB

Tried Priceline at $12/day... rejected. I then booked with Hotwire, as any higher on Priceline and it would have equalled the Hotwire price. Car Rental Details: Full-size car for 7 rental day(s) Avis LAS McCarran Intl. Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada Car Type: Full-size car with unlimited mileage. Pick-up: Sun, May 14, 2006, 12:00 PM Drop-off: Sun, May 21, 2006, 12:00 PM Rental Car 7 day(s) @ $14.95 per day $104.65 Taxes and fees: $58.53 Car Subtotal $163.18 Total Price $163.18 Includes all taxes and fees. Prices are in $USD. Evrything else I checked was well ovr $200 for the week, so this is a good deal! JB

We need a full size car in Las Vegas for a week, beginning 5/14/06. I checked on the rental car checker, and prices run from about $22 day and up. Hotwire shows full size car for $14.95/day... $169.12 w/ taxes, etc. Any suggestions to on how much to bid on priceline? Or... any other 'deals' I should check out first? Does priceline still require one week before bidding again, or has that restriction been modified like the hotel waiting period? Thanks! JB

We stayed at that hotel last summer, and will probably stay there again this summer. You really will need a car there... it's pretty far out from Boston. JB

Thanks! That is exactly what we decided to do. I checked that Holiday Inn Express in Cambridge on a number of different sites, and booked it directly on the Holiday Inn website. It is $104/night, plus taxes. The hotel got very good reviews at Tripadvisor, and the parking is free! Thanks for all the help! JB

I just checked Hotwire and they have two 4* properties. 1: North Strip, $70 Amenities: Restaurant, casino, pools, fitness ctr, spa services,laundry facilities, golf nearby, business ctr, hi speed internet, tennis nearby 2: South Strip, $75 Amenities: casino, restaurant, pool, spa service, tennis nearby, fitness ctr, golf nearby, business ctr Any guesses as to which hotels these are? Also, which is preferrable, north strip or south strip? We only have the one night in Vegas so want to make the most of our time. Thanks! JB

Hi... I've now done a bit more research and I find that the hotels in/near downtown Boston are wildly expensive for our date(s). We definitely need to stay on 5/8, and may stay one additional night. Would like to keep it under $100/night. I checked on Hotwire just to gauge what the going rates are... here are a few: 4-star hotel in Back Bay - Copley Square (Central Boston) $228 4-star hotel in Quincy Market - Financial District (Central Boston) $248 3.5-star hotel in Boston Common - Theatre District (Central Boston) $209 3-star hotel in Quincy Market - Financial District (Central Boston) Customer Favorite! $161 I'm not including amenities because these are just out of our price range. So, we may need to stay a bit further away and drive into Boston. I did find a Holiday Inn Select in Cambridge for $104 on Orbitz.... need to check reviews on that. Thereuare, I tried checking on EasyClickTravel, but no matter what I do, I can't make the link work. I'm on a Mac using Firefox. I can get into the EasyClickTravel site... but that's it... can't search at all. Any ideas for areas near Boston to check out? Thanks! JB

We need to stay in Boston one night. We will be participating in a program in the State House, which I believe is in Beacon Hill(?) I am not really familiar with Boston at all. Which Priceline or Hotwire sections would be appropriate. We will have a car so driving in is an option if traffic/parking are not too big of an issue. We need to be there at 8:30 AM... which, I assume, is rush hour. Convenience is more important right now than star level. I just need someone to point me in the right direction... then I can do more research before I actually begin bidding. JB

I've never had a problem getting a non-smoking room. However, we have frequently not gotten a room with a King Sized bed. At one hotel the desk clerk looked at us like we were asking for a huge upgrade?? I've always wondered which bed type (if any) was considered an 'upgrade'? JB

Mystic-Days Inn 55 Whitehall Avenue Mystic, Connecticut 06355 (860) 572-0574 . Check-in: Thu, Aug 31, 2006 Check-out: Sun, Sep 3, 2006 2-star Economy Lodging Traveler and Billing Details Hotel 1 room(s) @ $53.00 per night x 3 night(s) $159.00 Hotel Taxes and fees: $26.62 Hotel Subtotal $185.62 Total Price $185.62 Amenities: Free Breakfast, Pool Pleased with this as it contains part of Labor Day weekend. JB

Hi... We got the Hilltop over Labor Day weekend. It's a pretty nice place and definitely close to the Casinos (although we went to Mohegan Sun, which is a little further). A couple of years ago we got the Amerisuites in Mystic, which we absolutely loved. That's also not very far from Foxwoods (if you have a car). We usually ask for a King bed at check-in, and frequently, but not always, are granted our request. As others have said, you need to be a bit flexible when working with Priceline and Hotwire. Also, consider that both Priceline and Hotwire add their fee, so if you will only be there one night, the actual cost differential may not be that great. JB

Oops! You're right... my bad. I usually click on 'new posts' and I should have noticed you were talking about Virginia. JB

Norfolk in what state? There is a Norfolk here in CT which is very safe.. but I doubt that's where you're going as their concerts are in the summer. JB

I've had really good luck recently booking air on EasyClickTravel (use the links on the top of this page). I just booked RT to Las Vegas from CT for $229, and you see the airline and departure times before you book. JB