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STAY AT THE MARRIOTT AT SUPER 8 PRICES.

I do this every time I travel with my family. Here's how it works:

Make your reservation a few months ahead of time at the Motel 6/Super 8 at your destination. Make sure you get a confirmation number and the 800 number you can call to cancel the reservation. Also make sure you can cancel the reservation within 48 hours with no charge. You have now established the "bogey price" for a hotel stay at your travel destination.

Next, wait until the week of your trip. By this time, the hotels have an accurate forecast, based on seasonal data, of how many empty rooms they will have and how many rooms they need to "dump". Any open room is simply lost revenue, and a hotel will do next to anything to fill a room that would otherwise go vacant. This is where they start to get desperate, and you can use this to your advantage.

Now PULL THE TRIGGER ! 4 days before your trip, click here to log on to priceline.com and ask for a 3-star hotel at your destination at the price you booked the Super 8. You may need to expand the "radius" a bit, but this method has always worked for me. Priceline will come back with an agreement, at which point it is time to call back the Super 8 reservations number and cancel the "old" reservation. MAKE SURE you get a cancellation number and write it down. This will protect you from a bogus charge from a hotel you did not stay in.