Travel prices have long been variable. They can change frequently, even from any one given source.

You'll never find THE lowest possible price for any one item and it's unrealistic to pursue that. Decide what your budget it, find something that meets your needs, find a reasonable price, book it and move on. You'll drive yourself nuts otherwise, as you've already experienced.

I agree with Elmer. Do your research on those sites, but do not book on them. I have a friend who showed at hotels (twice) and her reservation was canceled at one. The other said that they never booked her the room. Both were Trip Advisor.

Hotel has stipulations that I did not feel comfortable with, so I didn't use them.

I also had a problem when I booked on Priceline many years ago, so never again for them as well.

Don't stay home, that would be silly.

I've always had good luck just booking through the hotel. They usually have competitive rates and will usually match any other online prices. Sometimes you have to join their "club" for chain hotels to get the special rates, but I'm ok with that. Recently I booked one where I wanted a particular room in the hotel. I couldn't do that online and the hotel wouldn't give me the online price via the phone. But she told me to book online, then call the hotel a few minutes later to let the reservation get to them, then request the particular room and they could do it that way. They were very accommodating.

I don't use those services because sometimes they have wonky cancellation policies and I've heard of people not actually getting the reservation they made through them - and you have no recourse with the hotel if you didn't book directly with them.

I agree, for the chains just join their rewards thing and book it directly from them. I actually get better prices and cancellation policies that way.

I never - NEVER - use aggregators. I book directly with the hotel/airline and save money every.single.time. They all have "price match guarantees" these days, and you're going to get a better room/better seat (sometimes with aggregators you don't get to choose your seat on a plane and are assigned one when you show up).

Same here....never ever use any of the aggregators. Too many ways to get screwed if you need to cancel and get a refund. I always, always use the hotel rewards program. So many now are consolidated anyway with a variety of price ranges, and offer discounts thru senior, military, AAA, etc programs. And almost all rates have a 24-hr cancellation policy. Very seldom have I ever pre-paid for a hotel room either. A few exceptions are national park lodgings and some resorts requiring a deposit.

I used to feel like I was getting a deep enough discount through Expedia, that I used them often. That doesn't seem to be true any more, and more often I'm calling or booking online directly. I can get a better cancellation timeline, and my card isn't billed until I'm checking out.

If I'm being efficient, I can often find my own specials. ie, Black Friday last year, Marriotts had room reservations half price. I reserved for Christmas, saved some money.

ETA: I should have said earlier, if it's an especially complicated trip, I will use a travel agent. Friend owned one until recently, she's retired but will still help out.

I use Hotwire. I read the reviews which sometimes have hints as to what hotel it might be. I did have one bad experience with one hotel out of ten great experiences, not too bad of odds.

I've used all sorts of sites and never had a problem. I have named my own price on Priceline and got excellent deals. I research starting with Tripadvisor and then search for the best rate. Sometimes it's through someone like booking.com (now owned by Priceline) and other times it's dealing directly with the hotel. I have often done what Olychick did regarding booking online and later calling the hotel to handle any special requests I may have.

I used to travel on a strictly budget base. Now I am willing to pay more for some amenities that didn't matter to me in the past. But the key to getting a good deal is knowing what you want and then looking for the room to fit your budget. I've stayed in little mom and pop refurbished 1950's motor hotels because of a squeaky clean rep they may have to boutique hotels where you share a bath. On the other hand when traveling to an area that is not known for it's tourism or quality of life I will stick with a decent chain hotel like a Hampton Inn.

I just call the hotel. I like dealing direct. I can tell them exactly what kind of room I want, find out what their cancellation policy is, tell them any other details of my stay, get any available discount. No middleman to get things confused. Not that money is no object.

I agree with everyone; deal direct with the hotel. The other avenues are so confusing and risky, I think. And ... don't just stay home; you were kidding about that, right? Go, and have a blast!

If exact hotel or location is not critical, I use Priceline express deals or bidding; was in DC a few weeks ago and got a Marriott room for $83 x 4 nights, that was $180/night best rate on the hotel website.

I have had the best luck with Hotels.com. I usually call the hotel directly and ask for their best rate. Once in a great while, they are better than the online sites.

Great info . I guess aggregators are mainly used fir research, yes?

Keep the 'deal' between you and the landlord -- whether it's a hotel or a VRBO rental or whatever. If there's a problem, these sites wash their hands of it. They are brokers, making money on the spread.

I use Expedia, Orbitz, and Priceline (if they have a better rate) - but always with a credit card - in case of any problem. Interestingly never had a problem with a reservation through a broker. However, had several problems with direct reservations. Albeit, I make more direct reservations.

I've used Priceline once to book a room in the Bahamas at the end of a lengthy cruise. According to Priceline the money we paid them included "all fees and taxes" however upon checking out, the hotel tacked on $40 more for a "resort fee" and the clerk knew exactly where to scroll to in Priceline's weasel words where it explained that some fees or taxes may not be included in the "includes all fees and taxes" price.

Recently when our late night flight home from LA was cancelled we were able to use Orbitz to find a nearby motel with a vacancy and book the room even though it was one we had just called several times and they seemingly just ignored the ringing phone.

If I don't call motels directly....do not use the 800 number...I use Expedia...I have never had a problem with them.

Bob/centerville thats awful. Kinda like genuine "pleather", ha and Shame on them.

This is OT but reminds me of the time I travelled to an overseas resort and in checking the final bill (and it MUST be checked) there had been numerous charges for condoms. i started laughing hysterically and embarrassed the clerk by looking at him straight in the eyes and asking him if I looked like I needed condoms; he was mortified. And the danged minibars can get ya too.

I use the aggregators for research only, then book directly with the hotel (or airline, whatever). The only exception is when I am fine with any hotel in a given neighborhood and I know I won't need to cancel, in which case I usually use Hotwire or Priceline (where they guarantee you a certain star rating for a given price but don't tell you which hotel it is until after you book). I am nearly always satisfied with the hotel and the prices are often half what you'd pay by booking direct. I generally call the hotel to ensure my reservation was received as soon as I get the confirmation from Hotwire and I have never had an issue with a hotel not having a record of my purchase.

Haven't had any problems using TripAdvisor (for domestic stays only, FYI). Biggest issue is I'm a hotels.com member and if I use TA to book a hotel, they can't pass along my HC membership #. I have to contact HC to get credit for the stay.

I like HC's free rewards program and find it useful. I use TripAdvisor mostly for reviews; I find them more comprehensive and useful than HC's reviews.

I don't hassle much about getting the absolute lowest price. Most aggregators don't vary more than $5-10 each way. Since we travel to certain areas 2-4x/yr, we have hotels we prefer to stay at. By using an aggregator, we can track if prices are going too high for what we receive.

For example, we found a modest motel in Monterey that has a room set-up that worked perfectly for us. The location is convenient and the value was good. The trade-offs were acceptable for the cost.

But after a couple of years they got "discovered" and rates shot up. They are now $50/night more than the surrounding competition. They're good, but not THAT good. So we dropped them and chose someplace else for our last visit, to try out.

The new place had very accurate reviews on TA. We knew what to expect and again, the trade-offs were few in relation to the value. I booked thru TA, however, so I contacted HC afterwards to claim the rewards credit for our stay.

I've always found HC's customer service to be helpful and straightforward. We had an issue once with a non-cancellable hotel reservation. I called the hotel directly but they wouldn't budge, even for an emergency. I called HC and they went out of their way to help rebook it. We didn't get a full refund, but HC credited us for one day of a two-day stay, which we thought was more than fair of them.

I'm another who checks for prices on Expedia or Orbitz and then books airfare directly. I would take more ofa a chance on a hotel room. We did use Trivago and Booking.com to book B&Bs in Scotland and only had one problem, which turned out to be ours, not theirs.