Accommodation (motel) in US/Canada - how early to book in advance?

Hello,

Doing a trip to the west coast of Canada / USA from England (see
previous post) this July and I've received conflicting reports about
how early to book accommodation. I'm planning to stay largely in
motels, at the lower end of the price range if poss. ($80 - i.e. GBP50
- or below)

People over here in England who have done a similar thing, as well as
travel agents, have advised booking maybe a couple of weeks in advance
or even just showing up on spec in the more isolated places; however
reports I've heard on this newsgroup have advised booking further in
advance than that.

Examples of places I intend staying: larger cities (Vancouver,
Portland, San Francisco) and more out of the way places ( Whistler,
Mount Hood, Bend, Mount Shasta town etc). Nothing finalised yet.

Can one book on the Internet with a UK card with the Cirrus/Maestro
logo?

Thanks,
Nick

National Parks and special resorts require serious advance bookings.
For the rest I might well just drop in. I would not drive extremely
late in an isolated area though. It's not much different from europe.
I booked well in advance to stay at the Parador in the Alhambra. For
most places I don't book ahead.

Nick Whitelegg wrote:

Hello,

Doing a trip to the west coast of Canada / USA from England (see
previous post) this July and I've received conflicting reports about
how early to book accommodation. I'm planning to stay largely in
motels, at the lower end of the price range if poss. ($80 - i.e. GBP50
- or below)

People over here in England who have done a similar thing, as well as
travel agents, have advised booking maybe a couple of weeks in advance
or even just showing up on spec in the more isolated places; however
reports I've heard on this newsgroup have advised booking further in
advance than that.

Examples of places I intend staying: larger cities (Vancouver,
Portland, San Francisco) and more out of the way places ( Whistler,
Mount Hood, Bend, Mount Shasta town etc). Nothing finalised yet.

Can one book on the Internet with a UK card with the Cirrus/Maestro
logo?

Thanks,
Nick

In article ,
(Nick Whitelegg) wrote:

Hello,

Doing a trip to the west coast of Canada / USA from England (see
previous post) this July and I've received conflicting reports about
how early to book accommodation. I'm planning to stay largely in
motels, at the lower end of the price range if poss. ($80 - i.e. GBP50
- or below)

bear in mind that unless they are chains, they are unlikely to be in
most booking databases

People over here in England who have done a similar thing, as well as
travel agents, have advised booking maybe a couple of weeks in advance
or even just showing up on spec in the more isolated places; however
reports I've heard on this newsgroup have advised booking further in
advance than that.

Examples of places I intend staying: larger cities (Vancouver,
Portland, San Francisco) and more out of the way places ( Whistler,
Mount Hood, Bend, Mount Shasta town etc). Nothing finalised yet.

Can one book on the Internet with a UK card with the Cirrus/Maestro
logo?

um no. you need a credit card, usually Visa or Mastercard.
Cirrus/maestro simply allows you to withdraw money from ATMs

"Nick Whitelegg" wrote in message
om...
Hello,

Doing a trip to the west coast of Canada / USA from England (see
previous post) this July and I've received conflicting reports about
how early to book accommodation. I'm planning to stay largely in
motels, at the lower end of the price range if poss. ($80 - i.e. GBP50
- or below)

People over here in England who have done a similar thing, as well as
travel agents, have advised booking maybe a couple of weeks in advance
or even just showing up on spec in the more isolated places; however
reports I've heard on this newsgroup have advised booking further in
advance than that.

Examples of places I intend staying: larger cities (Vancouver,
Portland, San Francisco) and more out of the way places ( Whistler,
Mount Hood, Bend, Mount Shasta town etc). Nothing finalised yet.


July is pretty much peak period being well into the US
school holidays. I'd definitely book ahead for the
more remote areas and seriously advise it elsewhere

Look at the budget chains such as Motel6, Super8, Vagabond Inn
and RedRoof. Your budget is doable in many areas but you'll be stretched
to find accomodation at those prices in San Francisco

One thing to be aware of is that some of the cheaper noname
Motels in big cities are of dubious reputation and may be
in less safe areas. As a tourist the chances are you wont know
which to avoid.

With most of the big chains you can make a booking
and cancel by up to 6pm the same day without penalty
so you may want to book a room and look around if you
get into town early

Can one book on the Internet with a UK card with the Cirrus/Maestro
logo?


Those are ATM/EFTPOS cards rather than credit cards IRC
You really are going to want a major credit card (Mastercard/Visa)
just to rent the car nevermind guarantee hotel rooms.

Keith