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WOTIF if you wanted to travel on short notice?

By Joel Chusid

I came across an interesting travel website not well known in the U.S., designed for people who tend to travel without much notice. It’s called www.wotif.com, the name of which is a takeoff of “What if” although that was already taken.  Sure, some hotel chains and airlines have last minute deals, but this is a site that only books hotels, motels, and B&B’s around the world for the next 28 days. A perfect companion to airlines’ last minute web fares, each month a million users log on, and over 110,000 room nights are booked.

Here’s why it’s not so well known here – WOTIF is based in Australia, but that shouldn’t cause any concern. The Ozzies are ingenious, too. The site is truly very simple to use.  Just input where you want to go, and click; no date is necessary. A list of accommodations is provided, star-rated, along with the available rate for each date over the next 28 days.  Shaded boxes offer something extra, taxes may be included, or a continental or full breakfast, even dinner, or admission to a theme park.  Just hover your cursor over the rate and the details are revealed. It’s possible to get very specific in terms of location, specifying amenities, or designating a maximum amount per night you want to spend. A currency converter on the page lets you convert from English pounds or Australian dollars, if necessary.

Because of its Down-Under focus, of the 35 countries on the site, there are a lot more choices in Australia and New Zealand, including luxury chains like Four Seasons Hotels which rarely show up in third party sites. There are also a fair number of properties listed in Europe and exotic places like Vietnam, Cambodia, Vanuatu, and even China. (Warning: if you’re planning a short notice trip to China, get your visa first!)

The U.S. selection is limited, but includes most cities. But only half a dozen hotels appear for Miami and four for Dallas.  The selection is larger for New York and Los Angeles although some of the geographic descriptions are not quite precise. The site is expanding its scope, with Latin America in its sights these days.

What’s amazing is the rate fluctuation on some of the hotels from day to day, due to demand. The Radisson Lexington Avenue in New York, for example, goes from $179 a night on a Sunday and then jumps to $359 on Monday. The site also allows you to check weekends only, if you prefer, but by looking at the entire week you can adjust your travel dates to take advantage of the best rates.

How can they do this? The hotels control their own inventory, and they have a pretty good idea how booked they’re going to be on each night. They can modify the prices by date, if necessary, something not easily done on other third party or even chain websites. That’s why some rates change dramatically from one date to the next, and you can take advantage of the dates where demand is low.

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