They'll take your money and say you have a confirmed reservation, but you'll arrive at your destination where no one has ANY idea of it, the hotel is fully booked, and you're out of luck. Fucking scam left my wife stranded and did nothing. Never again. Useless ripoff artists.

hotelclubsucks

Los Angeles, CA

Travel is one of my favorite activities and I am always looking for excuses to gas up the van and hit the road for a new adventure and new discovery. My love of travel has led me to many different web sites over the years and one that I have tried with only minimal success is **Hotelclub.com**, a web site that pays members back with reward dollars. **Travel Service Commentary: **Hotelclub.com offers services such as lodging, flights, car rentals, and sightseeing, as well as travel insurance and even transfer services to and from airports. These services are typical for a travel site, with Hotelclub.com actually offering a little fewer services than a full- service travel web site. It seems like I have tried out every travel web service in the known universe and I continue to visit my favorites time and time again. Hotelclub.com, however, is one site I have used only sparingly. I got to know this site from an e-mail invitation a couple of years ago and I decided it was worth a visit. The name of the site does have a certain appeal because it sounds like an exclusive travel "club" complete with great deals and generous discounts. In fact, I discovered that the opposite was true. The prices at Hotelclub.com are actually higher than most other travel web services, and these increased prices can easily erase any benefits you receive from the reward dollars. Speaking of the reward dollars, the process is a little different at Hotelclub.com than with other travel reward systems. The rewards offered here are not points that have to accumulate to some astronomical number before they can be cashed out. No, these reward dollars are worth the *actual dollar amount they indicate* and they are subtracted from your next trip. Even an amount as low as one dollar can be subtracted from your next trip, if you wish. Each time you make a purchase through Hotelclub.com, you will earn a certain number of dollars equal to a percentage of the total money you spend. The percentage that you earn, unfortunately, isn't that good. It starts off at two percent for travel booked through the discount section of the site. Then, based on your status, it climbs to four, five, or six percent. The six percent level isn't too bad and the dollars can accumulate quickly at this status. But you have to complete a large number of bookings to reach this level. For the most part, your percentage of money back will be two or four percent, which isn't much at all. As I said before, the prices charged by Hotelclub.com are higher than most other travel web sites and will easily eliminate any discount dollars you receive on most purchases. So, is there anything worthwhile about Hotelclub.com from a lodging perspective? I can think of only one thing: The special offers section. I have found special offers on hotel stays that were very close to the prices offered at competitor travel web sites. The prices were still higher at Hotelclub.com, but only marginally higher and thus worth considering because the two percent cash back discount makes them, in effect, less expensive than other sites. As for the other areas of Hotelclub.com, I have found them to be lacking also, but a little better than the lodging, at least in price. Flight prices are not too bad. They are offered by Travelstoremaker.com and they are competitive with other travel web sites. But users need to keep in mind that the price you see does not include a service fee that will be added to your cost when you check out. The added service fee might make Hotelclub.com more expensive than another travel web service, but it might be less. You will have to make comparisons with other travel web sites to find out which one is better. The same thing can be said with the car rentals- Hotelclub.com is sometimes better, sometimes worse. Sightseeing services, however, are not very good at Hotelclub.com. With minimal effort, you can find better deals someplace else. **Bottom Line Viewpoint:** Hotelclub.com is a below average travel web service and there is little chance I will be using this travel service again in the future. I might check the special offers section of Hotelclub.com and I might use the car rental section on occasion, since these are among the few sections of the site that offer good deals. But other than these two areas, I will likely avoid Hotelclub.com completely. The bottom line with most travel web sites is price and Hotelclub.com does not offer good enough deals to make it worth a visit.

Bryan-Carey

Houston, TX