Deal of the Day

November 1, 2011 - FrugalTravelGuy

Fly.com has flights from Boston to Dublin for $392 Roundtrip (incl. taxes).

JetBlue is having a one-day sale with fares from $29 each way.

Remember to register an AMEX card to receive a $25 credit when you spend at least $25 at a small business on Nov. 26.

Once again, Mommy Points has the answers to the Southwest questions for 100 free points.

A Gift for Active Serviceman or Woman

Bill from the Great State of Maine has donated two Skyclub passes and a few drink passes. If you are active duty and have an itinerary with layovers before November 26th, 2011, send me an email to win these passes, with gratitude for your service from Bill, myself and all our readers: rick@frugaltravelguy.com

frugaltravellawyer

Wonderful meeting you this weekend! YourRoomKey.com is just what I have been looking for. Hope to get a reply soon to my email. Thanks for the tip!
deltagoldflyer

Me too. GREAT to meet you Howie. Look forward to next time!
swag

Can you talk some more about yourroomkey.com? There's almost nothing on the homepage, anything else requires registration, and that's via email only. In fact, the only reference to the site that Google could find was a 6-month old FT thread that mentions it offering distressed pax rates.

All this leaves me extremely skeptical, that it's either some sort of scam or phishing operation, or that it's offering deals beyond what its providers intend (for example, is it supposed to only serve travel agents, company travel depts, etc?).

How could a site offering the general public deals this good stay so far below the radar for so long?

Have any of your readers ever successfully used this service?

All that said, the fact that it's mentioned in this established and respectable blog gives me hope. As does the fact you met the proprietor.

So what I'm wondering…
- What are the requirements for membership?
- What dates can be booked? Can I book a week-long stay for next year, or is it limited to tonight, or to one night stays?
- What are typical cancellation policies? You mention no charge until check-in, but even typical direct-booked reservations have 6pm or day-before cancel deadlines.
- Are the hotels opaque, or can I tell which property I am booking?
Anonymous

What is YourRoomKey?
Why do you have to become a member (by email)? Is there an expected volume? What are their fees? Do they cover international travel? Hilton?
Anonymous

does not seem to be the answer for hyatt mattress runs
deltagoldflyer

@Swag. They look new since AUG2010 according to register.com I find this:

Registrant:
ROICHEK, CHARLES
ATTN YOURROOMKEY.COM
care of Network Solutions
PO Box 459
Drums, PA. US 18222

Domain Name: YOURROOMKEY.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
ROICHEK, CHARLES t97qv6tj3xc@networksolutionsprivateregistration.com
Prairie City Limited
ATTN YOURROOMKEY.COM
care of Network Solutions
PO Box 459
Drums, PA 18222
US
570-708-8780

Record expires on 06-Aug-2015.
Record created on 06-Aug-2010.
Database last updated on 1-Nov-2011 12:36:20 EDT.

Domain servers in listed order:

NS63.WORLDNIC.COM 205.178.190.32
NS64.WORLDNIC.COM 206.188.198.32
Anonymous

While YourRoomKey.com sounds better than Priceline, I am curious as to whether you would earn hotel points/miles for the room stay– I thought most hotel chains require directly booking through hotel direct booking channels in order to receive miles/hotel points for bookings?
Anonymous

I agree that something seems a little off about this. The email I received back asked that I email back the following:

1. Your name
2. Your email address where you'd like room confirmations to go
3. Your FlyerTalk or MilePoint handle if you have one. If you don't have one you really should visit both sites and get hooked up with the best sources of travel info anywhere.
4. A phone contact which will be placed in any bookings you make and which we'll use to contact you if necessary.
5. Your place of employment or pursuit of education.

For a site that usually provides such clear and honest descriptions, I'm surprised there's not a better explanation of how yourroomkey.com actually operates (and why on earth they'd need my employer's name)
Lynn

Howie,

I told Brian that you might write about our conversation and tonight I looked it up…wow, you actually did.

Thank you for all your help on our short flight from Chicago back to Atlanta. I've already been researching my next card churn. I'm confident that one day I'll understand all this "travel hacking" and be well on my way to traveling the world, for cheap.

Best Wishes!
Lynn
Anonymous

Good tip on YourRoomKey. I'll check it out. Also the tip on plastic bags is very good. I also carry a few larger ziplock bags. I use them to wrap-up extra candy or snacks when on the road. Also I will use them to put leak possible items in on occasion. Cheap and easy to pack.
Acker

Howie,

Your are so the man! Yourroomkey.com just blew my usual Hyatt Reston rate right out of the water. Thanks.

Acker (Nancy) – I met you last Fri night while helping sign in registrants.
Chris

My apologies for not responding to the questions raised about YourRoomKey.com but I've been very busy signing people up — more than 500 in the past week alone.

Let me try and address the issues raised so far:

1. Why do we ask for employer information (or school for students)? We're a members only website dedicated to bringing discounted hotel rates to those who self manage their travel. Some of our hotel providers have placed restrictions on who can access our rates based on where they work or where they go to school to prevent conflicts with their other travel partners. So far we haven't yet had to turn down anyone who has applied, but someday we will. Be assured that none of the data we collect is seen or used by anyone except YourRoomKey.com — it's never shared with any of our travel partners.

2. What dates can be booked? Availability is dependent on the specific hotels but generally at least 10 months out. While some properties capacity control our rates, most of our clients are very pleasantly surprised that our rates are generally available.

3. Where do we offer rates? While we offer rates both internationally and domestically, the best savings are provided at properties located near U.S. airports where United, Continental and US Airways have significant presence, e.g. ORD, IAD, LAX, SFO, DEN and MIA. One might say we're a niche player that offers fabulous rates where we're strong and average rates elsewhere.

4. When will YourRoomKey.com aka YRK start offering significant discounts for international locations? YRK currently plans to bolster its portfolio of international rates in 2012 with a focus on China, Australia and the UK.

5. How can fellow travellers influence where the next great YRK rates will be? Simple — send an email to Chris@YourRoomKey.com!

6. What else can YRK do for me? YRK negotiates group hotel rates and can also negotiate special rates for associations and companies that have substantial volumes at specific properties.

Thanks to all the attendees at the Chicago Seminars that signed up and have already booked with us. We look forward to seeing you again next year and having more good news to share.

All the best.

Chris & the YourRoomKey.com Team
Chris

Couple of other answers:

1. Will I get points for my YRK stays? While we've only experienced two problems in the last 1000 room nights, experienced travellers know that some properties are just real stingy with point accruals and seem to always have an excuse as to why points didn't post. The good news is we were able to resolve both issues to our client's satisfaction.

2. Are the rates YRK offers really intended for its members or are eligibility requirements being ignored or stretched? All the rates YRK offers are generally available — or more correctly available to all YRK members.

3. What about cancellation penalties? YRK's rates are governed by a property's standard cancellation policy whether it's 6 PM or 24 hours.

If anyone has other concerns, please post them here and I'll give my perspective. Meanwhile YRK looks forward to saving you $$$.
Anonymous

"1. Will I get points for my YRK stays? While we've only experienced two problems in the last 1000 room nights…"

@Chris, thanks, but your answer isn't clear. Do stays earn points or not? Some but not others? Which? What exactly is the policy? You say "some properties are just real stingy" with points, but what does that precisely mean for YRK stays? Please be specific, and thank you for what you're doing! It's sincerely appreciated!
Anonymous

@Chris, your site's FAQ disagrees with your comment (above) about points. FAQ's answer: "Due to the discounted rates negotiated for this program not all rates booked via this web site may be eligible for reward points." So which will, which won't? How are we supposed to know? Do you know?
Chris

The comment in the FAQ is there because an individual hotel could decide that our rates are too low to offer points for such rates.

So far no hotel has done that which is why if you use our rates you'll get your points.

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