??'s about booking hotel throught LMT

lastminutetravel hotel prices look great, I have never used them before not sure exactly how it works. Do you get better prices than advertised on the site if you join? Also it says to call for a better rate is that true?

With our $$ tanking and cruising at prime time just wondering if I should book now for our February cruise or wait. :rolleyes:

We are flying into Fort Lauderdale on Feb 5th and cruising on the 7th out of Miami. We are open to spending both nights in either Fort Lauderdale or Miami or one night in each city.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Have used LMT several times, not just for hotels but hotel/flight package as well. Had no problems, quick response from agents and reservations have all been in place at the hotels at check in. Yes, you do get a better rate if you call them, at least that was our experience.

The very first thing you want to do is pick a hotel now and book a refundable option. Then you can play the game later on for discounted rooms. Discounted rooms generally require you to pay in advance and probably don't let you cancel for refund. You can also, around Christmas, try Hotwire, although with that, you don't know the hotel you are picking until you pay for it. You can use a site like betterbidding.com to help narrow it down to a couple options, based on listed amenities, star ratings and location, but it's never 100% sure. So, it's not for everybody, but you can save some cash this way. I also feel your pain on the dollar exchange. My cruise has probably gone up 15% since I booked it in March because of the dollar. In addition to the above, you might opt to just go for cost certainty now, and pick the advance purchase rate of a hotel, pay for it now, and be done with it.

It's not likely that for February that the room prices you see on hotel websites now are going to go down, so you are are basically playing currency speculator and deciding whether to pay now in fear the dollar drops more, or pay later hoping the dollar rebounds. I'm kind of cutting it both ways by not paying for my hotel now, but I have been paying down the cruise rather than waiting until November for final payment.

Have used LMT several times, not just for hotels but hotel/flight package as well. Had no problems, quick response from agents and reservations have all been in place at the hotels at check in. Yes, you do get a better rate if you call them, at least that was our experience.

I agree completely. I have used LMT several times and always have gotten great rates and never had any problems. You have to pay up front but can cancel as long as you do it by 3 days before your reservation. You can get better rates by calling.......they usually take a few dollars off....but if you join the "club" the rates are even better. Right now it is $25 to join the club but then you get a $25 credit on your booking and so it turns out to be free to join.

I stopped using Priceline and Hotwire when I discovered LMT because with P and H you cannot cancel.

Sometimes there is a free code to join. I would do a search of these boards and Google. I joined free 3 years ago and got great rates. In fact one time I booked 3 rooms for a girls cruise for 11 people and they gave me a king room. It was no problem getting an upgrade to a better room. When I used p&h I could never get an upgrade and they were always the least desirable rooms.

Thank you for all your help.

DanJ I think I will take your advice and book now for a refundable room. Its nice to have that option, one that P and H dont offer!!

I have found that LMT is not necessarily a "last minute" discounter as their prices may increase, and availability decrease closer to travel date. So I would suggest checking with them and booking if desireable price found, and then keep checking other sites.

Worth it to call LMT and inquire whether your employer has a corporate connection to sign you up for the club free. They also will have lodgings available which are not listed on the website if you ask for something specific.

Have used them many times and no problems with cancellations except having charge on cc. Not a problem for me when I can save money in the end.

I was able to join for $9.99 and I got a credit of $35 towards my first booking :D

I was able to join for $9.99 and I got a credit of $35 towards my first booking :D

Great!

I used them for two nights at Holiday Inn Port of Miami pre cruise. The rate was excellent, and the cancellation deal is that if I cancel up to three days before, I get refunded for one night, but lose the other. If I cancel within three days of arrival, I lose two nights. At the excellent rate, I figure it is a fair deal, especially since I booked about 6 months prior to travel.

Also, when I had a question, I phoned them and the wait/hold was very short, and the agent was efficient and knowledgeable. Any buck I can save is good these days as our Canadian dollar dips lower and lower.

Be sure to check the cancellation policy for each hotel...they are not all the same.

I'm a member of the "club" and I've used them several times. Never had an issue. Every hotel has had my room ready upon arrival and I've never had a problem with canceling and getting a full refund, if need be. If you're happy with the rate, then I wouldn't hesitate to book with them. LMTClub is the only site I use now.

getting frustrated here........ i get an email for secret hotels click on the link, do my search then when I go to click on one i get a message that my session has expired :(

I just did my first reservation. I've had a free club membership for a couple of yrs. I read here that you sometimes get a better rate by calling, so I did. I was offered the same rate as online, so I told the rep that I am a club member and was going to book online myself. He asked me to please allow him to make the reservation for me, and being a kind person, I allowed him to do so in order to give him his points or commission. When we got to the end of the booking, during the confirmation process, I asked him how I would get the lmt booking points, (since he didn't ask me for my membership club information). That was when he told me I wouldn't because they don't give points for phone bookings, but he was going to place me on hold while he contacted customer service to see what could be done. I then spent 15 minutes on hold, and 5-10 minutes with customer service, to be told that I couldn't get points. They agreed to cancel my reservation, and then I booked online myself. Luckily it wasn't during the 7 night penalty period for this hotel. Customer service agreed that the agent should have told me that there were no points when I told him that I am a club member and would like to book online. Anyway, no harm done, as the room was still available at the same price, but this was a big waste of my time, and I'm hoping that there won't be any glitches now.

I'm not sure if I missed something when I signed up, but it never asked me for a discount code or charged me for joining. Also, when I search for hotels, none of the "secret hotels" show up in the list. Did I not sign up for the right membership? I'm on lmtclub.com and I did get an email with $20 off my first booking, but I can't find anywhere on the site to change the membership level or sign up for something more. :confused:

I'm not sure if I missed something when I signed up, but it never asked me for a discount code or charged me for joining. Also, when I search for hotels, none of the "secret hotels" show up in the list. Did I not sign up for the right membership? I'm on lmtclub.com and I did get an email with $20 off my first booking, but I can't find anywhere on the site to change the membership level or sign up for something more. :confused:

You should be on

www.lmtclub.com

Input your email address and the password you used to log on..

this should bring you to the page where you input the city your looking for and the dates etc. a list of hotels should come up..click and continue to booking to get the price inc all taxes...at this point I either back out or continue if I'm ready to book...