Monday, April 21, 2008

Trip to Konxville TN 02

Car Rental from Hotwire
Trip to Knoxville TN

After booking my flight and Hotel together using Expedia, I found out that if I booked car rental separately I would get a cheaper deal for my travel location of Knoxville for the specific time period of early summer. So I decided to do the car rental using Hotwire.

The difference between using services like Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia as well as car rental companies like Budget, Avis, National, Enterprise and Hotwire is that in Hotwire you have to book and purchase the reservation at the same time. There are no refunds or changes allowed which are routine and easy using other rental outlets. That means if you decide to book using Hotwire that should be your final itinerary and you should be fairly certain that you are NOT going change any plans.

The positive side of this means that you get a good price for the rental. They advertised in the $14 while I was searching for the location and time while other rental agencies that allow for cancellation modifications were advertising in the $20 range. The difference per day was substantial but the purchase had to be final.

Another point with Hotwire is that you won't know which rental agency your car is going to come from. But they will be from one of the big four or five agencies mentioned above. I was happy to accep these conditions and booked using Hotwire.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Travel to Japan 03

Accommodation in Osaka
Near Grand Cube Osaka
Osaka, Japan

I needed to get some accommodation in Osaka for my trip to attend the 2008 Congress of the International Union of Crystallography. I wanted the accommodation to be closer to the conference site which is Grand Cube Osaka. I contacted the organizers and found out the first choice I had requested was no longer available.

However, I was able to find some accommodation in a nearby hotel called HOTEL OKUUCHI OSAKA, 3-8-8 Utsubo Hommachi, Nishi-ku, Osaka-city, Osaka. The price was reasonable running around 110 range. The Kinki Nippon Tourist Co., Ltd from Chuo-Ku, Osaka handled my reservations.

Once I reach Osaka I will find out the convenience of this place.