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Travelocity Now Offering Hotel Guests a Price Guarantee

The economy may not be feeling back to its old self, but there is more good news for hotel guests looking to get a better deal.

Travelocity announced today that it would not only eliminate change and cancel fees for hotels and vacation packages and offer guests a special $50 discount for travel but that it would also offer a price guarantee, something that other online travel booking sites have yet to do.

A price guarantee is a common feature found on hotel's websites which allow guests who find a lower room rate elsewhere to receive that lower rate instead of whatever the hotel is offering. It's a nifty little way for guests to sort of negotiate with hotels to get a better rate. For hotels, it keeps guests booking directly through their site, rather than with a third-party booking site, with whom they usually have to split a sort of commission.

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Tags: Green Hotels / Travelocity / Kimpton Hotels / Hilton Garden Inns / Element Hotels / → All Tags

Travelocity Keeps Tabs on Hotels Keen to be Green

Finally collecting the world's sustainable hotel properties and top eco destinations into one list, Travelocity has launched the Green Directory with the aim of connecting travelers to "options that will help to diminish the footprint their trips leave on the planet."

All we can say is that it's about time a popular booking engine drew attention to these properties working to improve and innovate. Showcasing approximately 250 environmentally responsible hotels on the international list, Travelocity points out some obvious choices like the LEED platinum Proximity Hotel and Element Hotels while surprising us by including affordable chains like Hilton Garden Inn and Kimpton Hotels. The list includes properties doing more than just planting saplings, but serving organic and local cuisine, reducing water usage, recycling, and even going so far as carbon neutrality.

Matching the dedication of these hotels is Travelocity itself as they have joined in the talks for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria; this means that one day, hotels hoping for the "earth-friendly" label will have to run through Travelocity's eco-gamut first. The Green Directory may be one small step for hospitality, but it's totally one giant leap for the "greenvolution."

[Fairmont St. Andrews photo: Travelocity]

Tags: Hotel Gift Cards / Four Seasons Hotels / Hyatt Hotels / Travelocity / Days Inns / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / → All Tags

Hotel Gift Cards: An Easy Hanukkah Gift or Stocking Stuffer

Gift cards may be the easy way out when it comes to gift-giving but c'mon they are so frigging convenient, it's hard to say no. For starters, you can pick most gift cards up in the supermarket--if your local store has one of those "Gift Card Malls" like ours does that features cards from every store imaginable like Toys'R Us, Pottery Barn and Southwest.

Second, the gift card may seem impersonal but have you ever heard of someone throwing away a $50 card to Banana Republic or letting a $25 iTunes card collect dust in the closet? NO. People use these things and we are all about utility here. Anyways, enough of our ranting. Here are some hotel and travel gift cards that you can buy for all the people in your life that you don't care about to make a gift or special order a present.

· Ritz-Carlton: The luxury chain offers gift certificates in its hotel gift shops or online. You can even call it in old school at 1-800-371-GIFT.
· Hyatt Hotels: Hyatt gift cards can be used for lodging or dining and for other services charged to the rooms.
· Four Seasons Hotel: Big spenders here can gift someone with up to $100,000 in a Four Seasons gift card. (Note to self: Make good friends with rich people.)
· Days Inn: Now, back to earth. Days Inn also offer gift certificates.
· Travelocity Gift cards: if you don't want to specify a hotel chain for your loved one, get 'em a Travelocity card so they can pick and choose for themselves.