www.offandaway.com

[Mountie]

t-2-f, maybe it's the gambler in me, but I have been looking at www.offandaway.com for some time and it does have some appeal. Just observing some of the auctions, it is apparent there is no reason to get into the bidding until the numbers rise into the hundreds.

[LL_Travelfan]

Found out more about www.offandaway.com from this link: http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/24/fiv...r-hotel-rooms/



"Ever dreamt of staying in a world-class, five-star hotel at rates that would be moreappropriatefor your local inn? Off & Away, a new site thats launching at TechCrunch Disrupt, may be exactly what youre looking for assuming youre not afraid of a little risk. If youve ever tried entertainment shopping sites like Swoopo, then Off & Away should sound familiar.

When you visit the site, youll see a listing of upscale hotel rooms at rock-bottom prices. Click on one, and youll see that the price is actually slowly increasing thats because Off & Away auctions off each reservation, and other people are bidding for the same room. To participate you need to buy bids (theyre a dollar apiece); then you can bid as many times as youd like until time runs out. Once that happens one user will walk away with the cheap hotel price. Everyone else can use the money theyve put towards bids toward reserving the room at its normal price.The site itself looks great, withattractivegraphics and slick transitions. Each hotel room page features numerous photos.

The site makes money by making acommissionon rooms sold, and also gets casual bidder revenue. The sites firstauctionfor a suite in NYC goes live today at 3:30. Retail value for the stay is $40,000. As a promo, use the promo code DISRUPT for free bids.

These bidding sites have been quite controversial some consider them to be scammy, while others enjoy their more exciting, game-like nature (and the potential to get major savings). Off & Away helps mitigate this a bit by allowing you to put money youve spent on bids toward a reservation at the hotels normal price. The logic being, if youre going to reserve a hotel room anyway, you might as well do it on Off & Away and give yourself a shot at getting a super cheap deal. Of course, if you were only bidding on the hotel in the first place because you were tempted by the low price, then youre probably out of luck."

[jsattapr2]

Well, I am going to continue watching and maybe even bid on some of the www.offandaway.com auctions. I just watched a two night package in a Junior Suiteat The Kitano in New York sell for $71.30. The sitelisted retail price was $1,475, which is obviously the highest rack rate.I checked online and even called the hotel while the auction was hot and the best price I could get wasjust under$500 a night.



I have stayed at The Kitano, whichis a very formal Japanese hotel on Park Avenue. I am so sorry I did not jump on this offer. Someone was able to steala fantastic deal.



Since this site is so new, I think the opportunities for some future deals still exist.



LL_Travelfan, omegaet andt-2-f, I don't think www.offandaway.com is a scam site. I just think anyone participating in their auctions needs to possess some common sense, be informedand maintainrestraint during the bidding process.

[LL_Travelfan]

jsattapr2,



Wow, $71.30 was really a good price for this place. Did you notice, the are a couple more auctions coming up with offandasway.com for New York City. The only problem I have with this form of auction is that you have to buy bids in minimum 10 x $10 increments which might not be sufficient and you might have to jump to the next higher level. You have to tie up your money ahead of time, before even bidding. LL and E-bay seem to be a more straight forward bidding system. However, this last bid seemed to be a really good buy.

[kyshel]

I think of scratch-off lottery tickets--in this case you have to buy the "implements" for scratching each one first, then you have to buy the actual ticket to scratch. If someone else scratches the same ticket first, you lose.
I just can't think of a nice enough term to use.

[travel2fun]

I do check www.offandaway.com from time to time. It appers most of the hotel deals end up selling for the high two hundreds to the middle and upper three hundreds. I'll keep watching, but for those price ranges, seems like it makes more sense to look at the new selection of hotel rooms only deals being offered here on LL.

[jsattapr2]

t-2-f, then you might want to check the auction that just closed, looks like a pretty nice place in Napa Valley for a whole lot less than $200 to $300:



http://www.offandaway.com/hotel/Napa...uctionId=16006

[LL_Travelfan]

Hi jsattapr2,

Can you explain this procedure to me:

Auction won on:

Winner: Marie D.

Retail price: Final auction price: $59.50 Winner's bids: $29.00 Total paid by winner: $88.50
Marie D or somebody used $59.50 of her/his pre-purchased bid coupons (10x$10 bid coupons). Then she was the last one to bid $29 on the auction and wound up with a final price of $88.00? How do you read the information above?

[jsattapr2]

LL_Travelfan, here is the best answer I could find on their site to you question.



Q&A

Is the auction price displayed the total price or the per-night price?




The price displayed on an auction is the total price for all nights, including taxes and service fees. If you win, you pay the auction price, plus the cost of any bids youve used.



p.s., have you been bidding on a property in NYC. As there is someone with the initials of LB who has been quite active in this auction.





Message Edited by jsattapr2 on 06-16-2010 09:07 AM

[LL_Travelfan]

2 Nights in the Studio Suite - Hotel on Rivington, New York CityCLOSED

Auction won on:
Wednesday, June 16th 2010 9:06 PM


Winner: Burak B.

Retail price: Final auction price: $397.50 Winner's bids: $75.00 Total paid by winner: $472.50



Hi jsattapr2,



This is the auction above you were talking about. Yes, I tried to bid, but there were several LB's bidding and I was outbid.
Message Edited by LL_Travelfan on 06-17-2010 04:39 AM