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Often when you're on the road, from my experience, you don't know just how far you will drive before you stop so you have to improvise. To give you an idea of how much I travel, I've got a car that I got brand new back in mid 2014 and by now I've put on over a quarter million miles on it.
Also, you can sometimes get really good discounts on rooms with coupon books that you find at rest stops, such coupons however are only good for walk ins, not for booking ahead.
This is true, but I think its smart to plan ahead regardless (and be conservative about it). If you're traveling from NYC to Charlotte, NC, for instance, you could, based on your endurance (and only you know you best) book a room at the halfway point for the night (or however far you want to go). Or you could not and risk a hotel/motel being out of rooms when you unexpectedly pop up at their front desk.
On the whole, sure some cities need more hotel rooms, etc., but many are fine just where they are and it would often be cost prohibitive to add additional rooms.
Location: IN>Germany>ND>OH>TX>CA>Currently NoVa and a Vacation Lake House in PA
3,252 posts, read 4,279,146 times
Reputation: 13439
Quote:
Originally Posted by StreetJustice
Often when you're on the road, from my experience, you don't know just how far you will drive before you stop so you have to improvise. To give you an idea of how much I travel, I've got a car that I got brand new back in mid 2014 and by now I've put on over a quarter million miles on it.
Also, you can sometimes get really good discounts on rooms with coupon books that you find at rest stops, such coupons however are only good for walk ins, not for booking ahead.
Well, then continue to roll the dice and hope to find a room at the spur of the moment. Hotels do not owe you increased capacity, because you might be staying at their establishment. For me, I plan ahead. When I have a trip planned, I figure out how far I want to drive in a day and make a reservation weeks/months in advance.
This is true, but I think its smart to plan ahead regardless (and be conservative about it). If you're traveling from NYC to Charlotte, NC, for instance, you could, based on your endurance (and only you know you best) book a room at the halfway point for the night (or however far you want to go). Or you could not and risk a hotel/motel being out of rooms when you unexpectedly pop up at their front desk.
On the whole, sure some cities need more hotel rooms, etc., but many are fine just where they are and it would often be cost prohibitive to add additional rooms.
Im talking along the lines of driving from Pennsylvania or New Jersey to Nevada.
Well, then continue to roll the dice and hope to find a room at the spur of the moment. Hotels do not owe you increased capacity, because you might be staying at their establishment. For me, I plan ahead. When I have a trip planned, I figure out how far I want to drive in a day and make a reservation weeks/months in advance.
We learned our lesson the first time we took a cross country trip. One night, we arrived in this sleepy town to find that every room in town was booked. We had quite a long drive before we came across another town where we finally found a room.
Our next cross country trip (this was in the days before the internet), we planned out what route we wanted to take and got a "Trip Tik" from AAA. That way, we were able to figure out how long it took to drive from point A to point B. Then we made our reservations for every stop along the way. Of course we booked a cancellable rate in case something came up.
OP---why do you insist on driving until you're ready to drop? That's not a good idea. What if you fell asleep at the wheel? There's nothing wrong with arriving 2-3 hours before you would normally go to sleep. When we would do that, we would just watch some TV and relax. If we found a local newspaper, we would buy one.
A failure to plan on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on theirs. In other words, hotels have zero interest in spending the money to build and maintain more rooms than they can routinely rent, just so you can wander up willy-nilly and get a room wherever you want. In fact, if hotels routinely had lots of extra rooms sitting empty, you'd be in even worse shape, because they'd go out of business and then you'd never be able to get a room even if you tried reserving in advance.
We learned our lesson the first time we took a cross country trip. One night, we arrived in this sleepy town to find that every room in town was booked. We had quite a long drive before we came across another town where we finally found a room.
Our next cross country trip (this was in the days before the internet), we planned out what route we wanted to take and got a "Trip Tik" from AAA. That way, we were able to figure out how long it took to drive from point A to point B. Then we made our reservations for every stop along the way. Of course we booked a cancellable rate in case something came up.
OP---why do you insist on driving until you're ready to drop? That's not a good idea. What if you fell asleep at the wheel? There's nothing wrong with arriving 2-3 hours before you would normally go to sleep. When we would do that, we would just watch some TV and relax. If we found a local newspaper, we would buy one.
If you know much about traveling than you would know that time can be of the essence. I make sure not to fall asleep at the wheel, if I have to I will use energy drinks and energy pills to stay awake. Sometimes I will sleep at a rest stop in my car which doesn't cost anything.
Location: IN>Germany>ND>OH>TX>CA>Currently NoVa and a Vacation Lake House in PA
3,252 posts, read 4,279,146 times
Reputation: 13439
Quote:
Originally Posted by StreetJustice
So you must not go on that many long road trips.
So laughable, and you are a funny one Mr StreetJustice. I dare say I've traveled much more than you. I've worked for the federal government for 25 years and as an IT worker have put many miles behind me supporting a region of several states. I have lived all over the country as well. Indiana, Ohio, Texas, North Dakota, California, DC area. You think I haven't done any road trips to see family? My mother is from a military family and has family scattered from Maine to Arizona. You think I've ever seen any of them? I am lifetime Platinum with Marriott and lifetime Gold with Hilton. Care to guess again? Your original post makes you sound almost childlike when it comes to any type of traveling. Don't tell me that I've not been on many road trips. LOL
This thread has officially become a hoot.
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