Flexible pricing

Just been having another look at the web booking site
www.yhabooking.org.uk and when you get a bed/room up you can click on
it and it will show you the prices for the next year.

Also found out that all YHA hostels should be on this service by next
Easter and as many of the Enterprise hostels as possible

Nigel
replace SPAMHATER with n and t*sc*li with totalise

SPAMHATERepper@tiscali.co.uk wrote:

> Just been having another look at the web booking site
> www.yhabooking.org.uk and when you get a bed/room up you can click on
> it and it will show you the prices for the next year.
>
> Also found out that all YHA hostels should be on this service by next
> Easter and as many of the Enterprise hostels as possible

What a confusing website. It does have one useful feature though; if you
can persuade it to display the 'please call the hostel direct' page, it
shows the *real* phone number alongside the 0870 one.

Off to compile a list...
--
Dave

In article <4506fb41$0$27306$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk>, Dave Pickles
<davep@cyw.uklinux.net> writes
>SPAMHATERepper@tiscali.co.uk wrote:
>
>> Just been having another look at the web booking site
>> www.yhabooking.org.uk and when you get a bed/room up you can click on
>> it and it will show you the prices for the next year.
>>
>> Also found out that all YHA hostels should be on this service by next
>> Easter and as many of the Enterprise hostels as possible
>
>What a confusing website. It does have one useful feature though; if you
>can persuade it to display the 'please call the hostel direct' page, it
>shows the *real* phone number alongside the 0870 one.
>
>Off to compile a list...

I find the yhabooking site a lot better than the useless HI system. It
gives the impression (I may be wrong) that it is giving an accurate
picture of availability and you can do "what if's" Having all hostels on
the system will be a big improvement.

--
**** john@evenlode.demon.co.uk ****
http://www.evenlode.demon.co.uk
John Mann -- Hook Norton -- Oxfordshire -- UK

It's not working at all for me, I just get a "problem loading page"
error message. Maybe they're still working in it - I've not seen it
publicised anywhere, but then they're rubbish at publicising anything
useful.

Does it have the actual opening dates of hostels on it too? I notice
that the main web site now says "Easter to October available by advance
booking - may be some restrictions including nights when the Youth
Hostel is closed. Contact the hostel at least 48 hours in ahead to
check availability." In other words, "we're not going to tell you
whether we're open or not, unless you ring this premium phone
number..."

All the hostels I looked at either got an "Open all year except when
we're not" or the "Easter to October" line quoted above - even for
hostels like Carlisle where another bit of text on the same page says
it's only open in July & August.

So now the YHA site now tells you neither when a hostel is open nor how
much it will cost to stay there ("Prices from..." is not the same as
"Price"!). All they need to do is remove the (already somewhat hidden)
information on how to get there and they'll have acheived total
uselessness. Hurrah for YHA.

On 13 Sep 2006 03:54:39 -0700, "Chris Hunt"
<chris@leicesteryha.org.uk> wrote:

>It's not working at all for me, I just get a "problem loading page"
>error message. Maybe they're still working in it - I've not seen it
>publicised anywhere, but then they're rubbish at publicising anything
>useful.

For those hostels on it already then you can aceess it by hitting the
book this hostel button from the main website. I think not
advertising it until all hostels are on it is fair enough, otherwise
they would be inundated with complaints that certain hostels didn't
appear
>
>Does it have the actual opening dates of hostels on it too? I notice
>that the main web site now says "Easter to October available by advance
>booking - may be some restrictions including nights when the Youth
>Hostel is closed. Contact the hostel at least 48 hours in ahead to
>check availability." In other words, "we're not going to tell you
>whether we're open or not, unless you ring this premium phone
>number..."

No the opening dates aren't on it but I assume that for closed nights
zero availability shows. The check 48 hours in advance is there so
that where the hostels are single staffed but open 7 days a weeks the
manager can look a few days ahead i.e. within the next week and decide
what days to shut so they get their time off (or have to arrange
releif cover). Once all the hostels are on the web booking then you
can check it online. If your booking is accepted (by the computer not
by the hostel staff) then unless they are going to contact you are
cancel or move you then they are going to be open.
>
>All the hostels I looked at either got an "Open all year except when
>we're not" or the "Easter to October" line quoted above - even for
>hostels like Carlisle where another bit of text on the same page says
>it's only open in July & August.

Agreed - crap but I'm told there is a major revamp of the website due
for October. One of the features should be that hostels can edit
their own pages thus (assuming they do it) they ensure that their own
hostel is correctly entered rather than having to go to via central
web team.

Nigel
replace SPAMHATER with n and t*sc*li with totalise

John Mann wrote:
>
> I find the yhabooking site a lot better than the useless HI system. It
> gives the impression (I may be wrong) that it is giving an accurate
> picture of availability and you can do "what if's" Having all hostels on
> the system will be a big improvement.

It gives that impression, yes. In actuality though, it's no better.
It can show a hostel as being full, even when it isn't because it seems
only a proportion of the bed allocation is included in the online
availability count. Once those are sold, it shows "full".

The one good thing about the YHA one that I like is that it shows the
best available price for those hostels which do offer flexible prices
(mainly London). You can pick up a real bargain just by changing the
day of your visit to a day either side of your original choice! I've
seen beds at £24 one night, and £15 the next :-§

The good old "dog and bone" is still the best way to find out whether
there's any availabiity.

Now, about that phone-number list, Dave, are you going to share it? ;-)

On 13 Sep 2006 22:00:24 -0700, "Jacki" <jacki@pr-photo.net> wrote:

>
>Now, about that phone-number list, Dave, are you going to share it? ;-)
There used to be one at http://www.artybee.net/yhagridreflist.txt but
that domain has been deregistered. I've recovered a cached version
and I'll share it with anyone after I've tidied it up

Nigel
replace SPAMHATER with n and t*sc*li with totalise

	#1
SPAMHATERepper@tiscali.co.uk	Flexible pricing Just been having another look at the web booking site www.yhabooking.org.uk and when you get a bed/room up you can click on it and it will show you the prices for the next year. Also found out that all YHA hostels should be on this service by next Easter and as many of the Enterprise hostels as possible Nigel replace SPAMHATER with n and tscli with totalise

	#2
Dave Pickles	Re: Flexible pricing SPAMHATERepper@tiscali.co.uk wrote: > Just been having another look at the web booking site > www.yhabooking.org.uk and when you get a bed/room up you can click on > it and it will show you the prices for the next year. > > Also found out that all YHA hostels should be on this service by next > Easter and as many of the Enterprise hostels as possible What a confusing website. It does have one useful feature though; if you can persuade it to display the 'please call the hostel direct' page, it shows the real phone number alongside the 0870 one. Off to compile a list... -- Dave

	#3
John Mann	Re: Flexible pricing In article <4506fb41$0$27306$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk>, Dave Pickles <davep@cyw.uklinux.net> writes >SPAMHATERepper@tiscali.co.uk wrote: > >> Just been having another look at the web booking site >> www.yhabooking.org.uk and when you get a bed/room up you can click on >> it and it will show you the prices for the next year. >> >> Also found out that all YHA hostels should be on this service by next >> Easter and as many of the Enterprise hostels as possible > >What a confusing website. It does have one useful feature though; if you >can persuade it to display the 'please call the hostel direct' page, it >shows the real phone number alongside the 0870 one. > >Off to compile a list... I find the yhabooking site a lot better than the useless HI system. It gives the impression (I may be wrong) that it is giving an accurate picture of availability and you can do "what if's" Having all hostels on the system will be a big improvement. -- ** john@evenlode.demon.co.uk ** http://www.evenlode.demon.co.uk John Mann -- Hook Norton -- Oxfordshire -- UK

	#4
Chris Hunt	Re: Flexible pricing It's not working at all for me, I just get a "problem loading page" error message. Maybe they're still working in it - I've not seen it publicised anywhere, but then they're rubbish at publicising anything useful. Does it have the actual opening dates of hostels on it too? I notice that the main web site now says "Easter to October available by advance booking - may be some restrictions including nights when the Youth Hostel is closed. Contact the hostel at least 48 hours in ahead to check availability." In other words, "we're not going to tell you whether we're open or not, unless you ring this premium phone number..." All the hostels I looked at either got an "Open all year except when we're not" or the "Easter to October" line quoted above - even for hostels like Carlisle where another bit of text on the same page says it's only open in July & August. So now the YHA site now tells you neither when a hostel is open nor how much it will cost to stay there ("Prices from..." is not the same as "Price"!). All they need to do is remove the (already somewhat hidden) information on how to get there and they'll have acheived total uselessness. Hurrah for YHA.

	#5
SPAMHATERepper@tiscali.co.uk	Re: Flexible pricing On 13 Sep 2006 03:54:39 -0700, "Chris Hunt" <chris@leicesteryha.org.uk> wrote: >It's not working at all for me, I just get a "problem loading page" >error message. Maybe they're still working in it - I've not seen it >publicised anywhere, but then they're rubbish at publicising anything >useful. For those hostels on it already then you can aceess it by hitting the book this hostel button from the main website. I think not advertising it until all hostels are on it is fair enough, otherwise they would be inundated with complaints that certain hostels didn't appear > >Does it have the actual opening dates of hostels on it too? I notice >that the main web site now says "Easter to October available by advance >booking - may be some restrictions including nights when the Youth >Hostel is closed. Contact the hostel at least 48 hours in ahead to >check availability." In other words, "we're not going to tell you >whether we're open or not, unless you ring this premium phone >number..." No the opening dates aren't on it but I assume that for closed nights zero availability shows. The check 48 hours in advance is there so that where the hostels are single staffed but open 7 days a weeks the manager can look a few days ahead i.e. within the next week and decide what days to shut so they get their time off (or have to arrange releif cover). Once all the hostels are on the web booking then you can check it online. If your booking is accepted (by the computer not by the hostel staff) then unless they are going to contact you are cancel or move you then they are going to be open. > >All the hostels I looked at either got an "Open all year except when >we're not" or the "Easter to October" line quoted above - even for >hostels like Carlisle where another bit of text on the same page says >it's only open in July & August. Agreed - crap but I'm told there is a major revamp of the website due for October. One of the features should be that hostels can edit their own pages thus (assuming they do it) they ensure that their own hostel is correctly entered rather than having to go to via central web team. Nigel replace SPAMHATER with n and tscli with totalise

	#6
Jacki	Re: Flexible pricing John Mann wrote: > > I find the yhabooking site a lot better than the useless HI system. It > gives the impression (I may be wrong) that it is giving an accurate > picture of availability and you can do "what if's" Having all hostels on > the system will be a big improvement. It gives that impression, yes. In actuality though, it's no better. It can show a hostel as being full, even when it isn't because it seems only a proportion of the bed allocation is included in the online availability count. Once those are sold, it shows "full". The one good thing about the YHA one that I like is that it shows the best available price for those hostels which do offer flexible prices (mainly London). You can pick up a real bargain just by changing the day of your visit to a day either side of your original choice! I've seen beds at £24 one night, and £15 the next :-§ The good old "dog and bone" is still the best way to find out whether there's any availabiity. Now, about that phone-number list, Dave, are you going to share it? ;-)