For regular readers of the blog, you’ll know that we love to play tourist in our own city, and travel further from home when we are able to. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to travel to many far off places across North America. Now, with the snow already on the ground (bah humbug!), I’ve been daydreaming about a warm Caribbean getaway this week. That daydreaming got me paying attention to some travel deals that have been dropping into my inbox lately. Turks and Caicos. Jamaica. Cuba. Heck, I’d love to visit any of those destinations right about now! That travel daydreaming may just be about to get me into trouble…with my wallet!
I spent some time the other day doing some “internet” surfing (sadly, not the California Dreamin’ variety of surfing), and while looking at some spectacular southern getaways, this ad popped up on my screen from Expedia.ca. Let’s face it, living on the internet like I do, I am bombarded with hundreds of ads each day, all vying for my attention. I admit, I tune most of them out. But this particular Expedia ad caught my eye. Why? Because I love idioms – and this ad is full of them! What’s an idiom? You’ll know as soon as you watch the video:
I grew up with a mother who used many idioms in her vocabulary. Some make total sense, others not so much. But that’s what makes them fun, at least to me. So yes, this ad touched a nerve with me because of all the “play on idioms” placed in the ad.
I was giggling so much to myself that I almost missed the message of the ad itself, which is that Expedia now offers customers the chance to “book now and pay later” when booking hotels on their site. I’m glad I heard the message. This is important to me because I really despise when I am required to pay for my hotel room “upfront”. I most certainly do not mind giving my credit card information to hold my room, but don’t ask me to pay for my hotel room in full (or even 50% of the cost) on the day I book a room. This ad probably caught my attention even more because, just recently, I have been asked to pay for 50% of a hotel room stay when I was trying to book directly from a hotel website. Not cool in my opinion. They lost my business because of this. So I love this new Expedia.ca option. YOU can choose when you pay. Pay upfront when you book or, choose the option I would choose and pay when you check out.
So while I’m not counting my chickens before they hatch, I’m still hoping I can find a fabulous winter getaway deal that will make both me, and my wallet happy. I’m keeping my options open and not putting “all my eggs on one hassock!”
How do YOU prefer to pay for your hotel stays? Upfront or upon checkout? Have you booked a winter getaway?
